This ice giant shaped our solar system — here’s how
You should be a model
The research team ran more than 6,000 simulations of the evolution of the Solar System, revealing an unexpected finding aboutJupiter and Saturn.
Astrophysicists typically thought the two planets orbited in a 3:2 ratio — for every three orbits around the Sun made by Jupiter, Saturn was thought to trace out three trips around our parent star.
Instead, the simulations showed that the two planets were, more likely, in a 2:1 resonance, where Jupiter raced around the Sun twice for every trip completed bySaturn.
Such resonances produce systems much like the one we see in the present day — with small terrestrial planets in the inner solar system, surrounded by larger worlds.
The models also showed that the orbits of Uranus and Neptune were shaped, in part, by gravitational pulls from the multitude of bodies in the Kuiper Belt, sitting at theedge of our family of planets.
Ice planets leave me cold
Another surprise was evidence for an ancient ice giant world that once existed in our Solar System, which left our family of planets long ago.
Ice giant planets are worlds far larger thanEarth, mostly consisting of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, including sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Two ice planets orbit in the outer reaches of our own solar system — Uranus and Neptune.
“In the strictest definition, ice is the solid form of water. However, planetary astronomers often use ‘ice’ to refer to the solid form of any condensable molecule. These tend to be highly reflective, form clouds, and (unlike minerals) can readily change between liquid, solid, and gas states at relatively low temperatures. Frozen water and carbon dioxide (‘dry ice’) are the most familiar ices on Earth, but methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and phosphine (PH3) can all freeze in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune,”Amy Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, writes for the Planetary Society.
The first known ice giant planet in another solar system was confirmed in October 2014, sitting 25,000 light-years from Earth. This world, four times more massive than Uranus, orbits at a similar distance as its more familiar cousin.
Tools and techniques developed in this study might also assist researchers looking atexoplanets orbiting distant stars.
This article was originally published onThe Cosmic CompanionbyJames Maynard, founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion. He is a New England native turned desert rat in Tucson, where he lives with his lovely wife, Nicole, and Max the Cat. You can read this original piecehere.
Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companionis also available as a weekly podcast, carried on all major podcast providers. Tune in every Tuesday for updates on the latest astronomy news, and interviews with astronomers and other researchers working to uncover the nature of the Universe.
Story byThe Cosmic Companion
Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.
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