Jupiter, the largest planet by far in our solar system, plays an important protective role. Its enormous gravitational field deflects comets and asteroids that might otherwise hit Earth, helping to create a stable environment for life to exist. But giant planets elsewhere in the universe don't necessarily protect life in their smaller, rocky neighbors.
In certain planetary systems, large gaseous planets can act as agents of chaos, and pose a threat to the habitability of the neighboring Earth-like planets. New research shows that these giants tend to knock smaller planets out of orbit and make a name for their climates.
Jupiter, the largest planet by far in our solar system, plays an important protective role. Its enormous gravitational field deflects comets and asteroids that might otherwise hit Earth, helping to create a stable environment for life to exist. But giant planets elsewhere in the universe don't necessarily protect life in their smaller, rocky planet neighbors.
A new paper in the Astronomical Journal details how the pull of massive planets in a nearby star system tends to throw their Earth-like neighbors out of the "seat zone." This region is defined as the range of distances from a star that is warm enough to sustain liquid water on the surface of the planet, and allow life.
Unlike most known solar systems, the four giant planets in HD 141399 are further away from their star. That is why it is a good model for comparison with our solar system where Jupiter and Saturn are also relatively far from the sun.
"It's like there are four Jupiters out there acting like wrecking balls, throwing everything out of control," says Stephen Kane, an astrophysicist at UC Riverside and author of the journal article.
Factoring in data about the system's planets, Cain performed numerous computer simulations to understand the influence of these four giants. He wanted to look specifically at the sat region of this planet's system to see if an Earth-like planet could stay there in a stable orbit.
"The answer is yes, but it's highly unlikely. There are only a few select regions where the gravitational pull of the giants won't knock a rocky planet out of its orbit and fly it out of the region," Kane said.
This paper shows that giant planets outside the Hashiv region destroy the chances of life, while a second paper shows how a single large planet in the middle of the region would have a similar effect.
In the second article, which was also published in the Astronomical Journal, they examine a system of a star called GJ 357, which is only 30 light years from Earth. By comparison, the galaxy's estimated diameter is 100,000 light-years, so this system is "definitely in our neighborhood," Kane said.
In previous studies it was found that a planet in this system, GJ 357 d, resides in the host region of the system and its measured mass is approximately six times that of Earth. But in this article titled "Agent of Chaos" Kane shows that the mass is probably much larger.
"GJ 357 d may be as much as ten times the mass of Earth, meaning it's probably non-terrestrial, so there can't be life on it," Kane said. "Or at least, she won't be able to host life as we know it."
In the second part of the article it is shown that if the planet is much larger than previously thought, it certainly prevents the presence of other earth-like planets next to it in the Hashiv region.
For the first part DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/acfb01
The second part DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/acff5a
More of the topic in Hayadan:
Comments
Hals Barbara snooze, tired of everyone here.
Jupiter has no gravity.
Earth has no gravity
Matter has no gravity.
Gravity is an imaginary literary concept, and not a physical concept
The physicists have to look for another explanation, for the phenomenon of an apple that has ripened, and it falls to the ground with increasing speed.
Neurophysics can be used.
A. Asbar