'Gods of chaos': Jupiter protects us, but similar gas giants whack other Earth-like planets
Jupiter study
Jupiter, the planet named after the Roman king of gods, in a regal manner protects all life on Earth. However, as per a new study, gas giants like our solar system's Jupiter actually wreak havoc on nearby exoplanets.
According to the study published in The Astronomical Journal, small rocky planets like our Earth may be at risk from gas giants like Jupiter.
'Wrecking balls'
In our solar system, Jupiter's massive gravitational field protects Earth and other exoplanets from comets and asteroids by deflecting them away.
However, not all exoplanets are as lucky. In other solar systems, the gravitational field of giant planets like Jupiter may put them at risk of getting knocked out of their orbits and the habitable zone altogether.
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How can we conclude this?
To reach this conclusion, scientists studied HD 141399, a star system that contains not just one but four gas giant planets.
HD 141399 is located some 121 light-years away from our solar system in a constellation called Boötes.
As per Stephen Kane, first author of the paper and an astrophysicist at the University of California – Riverside, HD 141399 is a chaotic place where "It's as if they have four Jupiter(s) acting like wrecking balls, throwing everything out of whack."
Using computer simulations, the team tried to see if the gas giants would knock out smaller planets and they found that if Earth was part of that system, we would be unlikely to maintain our place in the Goldilocks aka the habitable zone.
"There are only a select few areas where the giants' gravitational pull would not knock a rocky planet out of its orbit and send it flying right out of the zone," explains Kane.
Chaotic giants: Might is power
In a second paper, the same team suggests that Jupiter-like gas giants may be agents of chaos.
Forbes reports that located just 30 light-years from Earth is a planet similar in size but an estimated 10 times in mass, and it is causing gravitational chaos, preventing other smaller planets from orbiting in the habitable zone alongside it.
"Our work gives us more reasons to be very grateful for the planetary configuration we have in our solar system," said Kane. The team also cautioned that this finding may be a warning against assuming that all planets found in the habitable zone of a star are capable of hosting life.
(With inputs from agencies)
