Lost planet in Solar System was gobbled up by Jupiter – solving ancient mystery
AN EXPLOSIVE space collision left Jupiter with its strange planetary core, according to new research.
The gas giant smashed into and absorbed a smaller planet around 4.5billion years ago, leaving it with a centre bubbling with hot gas.
Scientists say their work solves a long-standing mystery over Jupiter's centre.
Most planets have cores made of molten rock or slushy ice.
But Jupiter, by far the largest world in the solar system, has a bizarre mix of solid rocks and pockets of hydrogen gas.
Now, a team of astronomers from Japan, China, Switzerland, and the US propose that an apocalyptic space crash is to blame.
They investigated the gas giant's structure by rifling through data from Nasa's Juno spacecraft, which has orbited Jupiter since 2016.
After plugging this data into computer models, it seems a giant planetary collision is the best possible explanation we have for Jupiter's fragmented, gassy core.
"Models of such a scenario lead to an internal structure that is consistent with a diluted core, persisting over billions of years," .
The solar system was a chaotic place 4.5billion years ago.
It's likely that huge, rogue planets swung around the Sun alongside the eight worlds we know today.
How far away is Jupiter from Earth?
Learn how long it takes to get the largest planet in the solar system...
- At the closest point in their respective orbits, Jupiter and Earth are around 365 million miles apart.
- But because neither planet spins around the sun in a perfect circle, nor at the same speed, this number fluctuates dramatically.
- When they are furthest apart the planets are 601 million miles apart, more than two thirds farther away than they are at their nearest.
- As it is further away Jupiter takes 11.86 Earth-years to complete one orbit of the sun.
- While we travel around our star we catch up with the gas Giant once every 399 days, causing the gas giant to appear to travel backwards in the night sky.
Based on their research, scientists think Jupiter's core formed following a collision with a planet around ten times the size of Earth.
Such an event would have seen Jupiter's core fuse with the smaller planet, likely within about ten hours.
If true, the research suggests the solar system was a violent place in its early days, with giant planets regularly ploughing into one another.
The scientists wrote: "We suggest that collisions were common in the young Solar System.
"A similar event may have also occurred for Saturn, contributing to the structural differences between Jupiter and Saturn."
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Do you think Jupiter was hit by another planet? Let us know in the comments!
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