Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, may have helped Earth even before our planet existed. According to new research from scientists at Rice University, the gas giant’s early growth blocked the flow of gas and dust toward the inner solar system. This prevented the material that eventually formed Earth, Venus, and Mars from being pulled into the Sun.
The study also suggests that Jupiter’s gravity not only helped the inner planets become stable, but also shaped the structure of our solar system by carving out rings and gaps, which had a big influence on how, when and where rocky bodies were formed.
According to the study’s co-lead and assistant professor of Earth at Rice University, Andre Izidoro, “Jupiter didn’t just become the biggest planet – it set the architecture for the whole inner solar system. Without it, we might not have Earth as we know it.”
Scientists also used computer simulations to understand how Jupiter’s rapid growth in the early solar system affected the disk of gas and dust that enveloped the Sun. The result was that the gas giant’s strong gravity created ripples in the disk and disturbed the gas and other material, which acted like “cosmic traffic jams.”
The study goes on to say that as Jupiter grew in size and mass, it opened a huge gap in this disk, which led to the division of the solar system into inner and outer zones and prevented material from freely flowing. According to Baibhav Srivastava, a graduate student at Rice University, “our model ties together two things that didn’t seem to fit before – the isotopic fingerprints in meteorites, which come in two flavors, and the dynamic of planet formation.”
It also helped scientists understand why some meteorites took millions of years to form after the first solid bodies existed in the solar system.
“The mystery has always been: Why did some of these meteorites form so late, 2 to 3 million years after the first solids? Our results show that Jupiter itself created the conditions for their delayed birth.” As it turns out, by manipulating the flow of material in the inner solar system, Jupiter led to the formation of what scientists call “chondritic meteorites”, some of which still fall to Earth today.
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