OTHER PLANETARY SYSTEMS

Astronomers have observed many systems without a Jupiter equivalent, and they don’t have an Earth either

It’s tempting to think that our Solar System is typical, with the giant planet Jupiter relatively far from the host star, while Earth and other rocky planets are further in, and nothing is closer to the Sun than Mercury. But as NASA researcher Yasuhiro Hasegawa observed in 2020, “that kind of configuration currently seems very rare”. In fact, many exoplanet systems seem to lack anything resembling Jupiter, while so called super-Earths – planets larger than Earth that are much closer to their star than Mercury is to the Sun – appear quite common. It’s possible that such a super-Earth did start to form early in the life of the Solar System, but was then pulled to pieces by Jupiter’s gravity during the grand tack, with most of the debris falling…

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All About Space Annual (Digital) - 1 Issue, All About Space Annual (2024)

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