Thank you, Russ, this helps me understand the planetary surface. I assume SL9 exploded at the surface because the speed of decent made the gas "feel" like a solid, and/or the atmospheric pressure came into play. I still wonder why the tremendous gravity doesn't force more of the liquid/gas into...
Why doesn't the immense gravity of Jupiter and the others turn the gases into solids? (More than just a tiny core, that is.) Does the "gas" at the surface act like a hard solid? About 10 years ago that comet, Shoemaker-Levy 9, entered Jupiter's atmosphere, broke up, and caused explosions on the...