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The planet between Saturn and Uranus was “ ejected from the Solar System ” in its infancy, displacing the ice giants in new orbits around the sun
- US researchers have run 6,000 models of the evolution of the solar system
- They identified the pattern that best explained the orbital patterns seen today
- The team concluded that Jupiter and Saturn began in eccentric and oval orbits
- Furthermore, Uranus and Neptune were influenced by the Kuiper belt and a lost planet
The Solar System may have once had an extra planet, an icy world that was ejected from its orbit, but whose presence led to the planetary orbits we see today.
The planets were born from a swirling disk of dust and gas that surrounded the young Sun, with worlds forming from the accumulation of masses of matter.
The orbits of giant planets were once thought to be compact and circular, but gravitational interactions have shifted them to the patterns we see today.
This configuration is believed to be “highly unusual” and experts have long tried to explain how it came about.
US researchers have run thousands of models of how the orbit of the solar system’s planets may have evolved over time to find the one that best explains their modern state.
From this, the team suggests that Jupiter and Saturn started with “eccentric” or oval-shaped orbits and with different orbital durations than previously thought.
The researchers also conclude that the orbits of the “ice giant” planets, Uranus and Neptune, were affected by the gravitational pull of a mysterious vanished planet, an ice giant that once lay between Saturn and Uranus.
The Solar System may have once had an extra planet, a frozen world that was ejected from its orbit but whose presence led to the planetary orbits we see today. In the photo, Saturn, whose orbit today may have been affected by the loss of this mysterious frozen planet
“We now know that there are thousands of planetary systems in our own galaxy, the Milky Way alone,” said article author and planetary scientist Matt Clement of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC.
“But it turns out that the arrangement of the planets in our Solar System is very unusual, so we are using models to decode and replicate its formative processes,” he added.
“It’s kind of like trying to figure out what happened in a car accident after the fact: how fast the cars were going, in which directions and so on.”
In their study, Dr. Clement and his colleagues conducted 6,000 different simulations of the evolution of the Solar System, with particular attention to the relationship between Jupiter and Saturn.
It was thought that Jupiter, in its infancy, completed three complete orbits around the Sun for every two taken by Saturn – however, analysis has shown that this initial arrangement cannot explain the configuration of gas giants today.
Instead, the team’s most suitable model suggests that, instead, Jupiter has likely completed two trips around the Sun for each of those made by Saturn, with what resulted in something closer to the solar system architecture we have now.
The researchers also concluded that the orbits of Uranus and Neptune were decided by a variety of external factors.
These included the gravitational influence of the Kuiper Belt – the donut-shaped ring of icy objects, including Pluto and other dwarf planets and planetoids – as well as the impact of another world of ice that was ejected from its orbit. .
In their study, Dr. Clement and his colleagues conducted 6,000 different simulations of the evolution of the Solar System, with a focus on the relationship between Jupiter (pictured here in a true-color image created from data collected by the Cassini mission) and Saturn.
“This indicates that although our solar system is a bit strange, it hasn’t always been like this,” explained Dr. Clement.
‘Furthermore, now that we have established the effectiveness of this model, we can use it to help us observe the formation of terrestrial planets, including our own.’
Furthermore, he added, the tool could also be used to “inform our ability to look elsewhere for similar systems that may have the potential to host life.”
The full results of the study were published in the journal Icarus.
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