Can Gas Giants' Atmospheres Ignite Without Oxygen?

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SUMMARY

Gas giants, such as Jupiter, cannot ignite their atmospheres despite being composed of flammable gases like hydrogen and methane. Historical events, such as the July 1994 collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter, demonstrated that even violent impacts did not ignite the atmosphere. The conditions required for ignition and sustained burning are highly specific and unlikely to occur in such environments.

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  • Understanding of gas composition in planetary atmospheres
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  • Basic principles of planetary science
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SatSat
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Hi, quick question for you guys.
I was having a discussion the other day with a friend of mine, about whether it was possible to ignite the atmosphere of a planet, specifically gas giants; considering many are made of flammable gasses and compounds (hydrogen, methane etc...). I would have thought that without oxygen, one wouldn't be able to spark a flame anyway, but i would just like to know if there was any other way, and what would happen to the make up of the planet if it did. I'm not an astronomer or anything like that, so was just hoping if you guys could enlighten me.
Cheers!
 
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hi satsat

welcome to PF :smile:

Back in July 1994, many fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter and exploded violently in its mainly Hydrogen ( and a little Helium) atmosphere.

The atmosphere wasn't ignited and didn't burn away. So I would suggest it would be pretty difficult to do so unless the appropriate gas concentrations in an atmosphere were just right for ignition and continuous burning.

cheers
Dave
 
Thanks a lot Dave, I had thought the conditions would have to be pretty specific; it's good to have an event to defer to.
Thanks again!
 

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