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How does helium precipitation help produce Jupiter’s internal heat?
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Jupiter
Photograph of Jupiter taken by Voyager 1 on February 1, 1979, at a range of 32.7 million km (20.3 million miles). Prominent are the planet's pastel-shaded cloud bands and Great Red Spot (lower centre).
Jupiter’s internal heat is produced in part by the liberation of thermal energy resulting from the precipitation of helium droplets within the planet's deep interior.1
As the planet cools, helium that was previously dissolved in the fluid hydrogen of the interior precipitates out of solution and sinks toward the center. As these dense helium droplets fall through the planet's interior, their potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. This motion is subsequently damped by friction, which converts the energy into heat. This process, along with the gradual release of primordial heat from the planet's formation, helps explain why Jupiter radiates approximately twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun.12