How Hot Is Jupiter?
QUICK ANSWER
Jupiter's cloud tops average about -234°F (-145°C), making the visible surface incredibly cold. But the planet's interior gets dramatically hotter with depth, with the core estimated to reach over 43,000°F (24,000°C), hotter than the surface of the Sun. Jupiter generates much of this heat internally.
Jupiter is both freezing and scalding, depending on where you look. The cloud tops are some of the coldest places in the solar system this side of the asteroid belt, but the core temperature would melt anything humans have ever built. Jupiter also produces more heat than it receives from the Sun, which is one of the strangest things about it.
How cold is Jupiter's surface?
Very. According to NASA, Jupiter's cloud-top temperature averages about -234°F (-145°C). The visible upper atmosphere is far from the Sun and contains very cold ammonia ice clouds. There's no solid surface at Jupiter's cloud-top level, so these temperatures apply to the gas at that altitude. Different cloud layers have different temperatures, with deeper layers being warmer than the visible top, but the upper atmosphere is uniformly freezing by any human standard.
How hot is Jupiter's core?
Extremely. The core is estimated to reach temperatures of about 43,000°F (24,000°C), which is hotter than the surface of the Sun (about 10,000°F). The intense heat comes from a combination of leftover heat from Jupiter's formation and ongoing gravitational compression. Jupiter is so massive that the weight of its outer layers continues to squeeze the interior, releasing heat in the process. The temperature increases steadily with depth, going from freezing at the cloud tops to fusion-adjacent at the core.
Does Jupiter generate its own heat?
Yes. Unlike Earth, Jupiter radiates significantly more energy than it receives from the Sun, about 1.6 times as much. The excess heat comes mainly from Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction, the slow gravitational compression of the planet's interior. As Jupiter cools, it shrinks very slightly, converting gravitational energy into heat. Jupiter is essentially a planet-sized engine generating its own warmth. This internal heat drives the planet's weather and contributes to the powerful storms that define its appearance.
What's the weather like on Jupiter?
Violent. Jupiter has powerful storms, jet streams, and lightning much more energetic than Earth's. Wind speeds exceed 400 mph in many places. Storms can be larger than entire planets, with the Great Red Spot being the most famous example. Lightning bolts on Jupiter are estimated to be hundreds of times more energetic than the strongest lightning on Earth. The weather is driven by Jupiter's internal heat rather than sunlight, so it doesn't quiet down even when the planet's hemispheres rotate away from the Sun.
Jupiter is both bitterly cold at its cloud tops and hotter than the surface of the Sun at its core, with temperatures rising dramatically as you descend. The planet generates more heat than it receives from the Sun, which drives some of the most violent weather in the solar system. Jupiter is a planet of extremes, top to bottom.
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