Jakarta –
A study of uncovered great merit Jupiter for Earth from various dangers. Danny Price, an astronomer from Curtin University Australia, said that Jupiter protects the Earth from various asteroids.
With its large gravitational field, Jupiter works by deflecting comets and asteroids that threaten Earth. “Here on Earth we are protected from asteroids by Jupiter,” said Danny.
But things could be different in other solar systems. A study from The Astronomical Journal written by Stephen Kane, an astrophysicist from UC Riverside, said that in other Solar Systems, small rocky planets like Earth could actually be knocked out of the habitable zone due to gravity and giant gas planets like Jupiter, reported detikINET from Newsweek.
“It was as if they had four Jupiters acting like wrecking balls, throwing everything away,” Kane said.
The Solar System in question refers to HD 141399 which has four giant gas planets. The solar system was used as a model by scientists in this study.
If Earth were in that solar system, Earth would not be able to remain in its orbit and would be uninhabitable. Scientists concluded that in other Solar Systems, some giant gas planets sometimes prevent small rocky planets like Earth from developing.
Another study from The Astronomical Journal written by Kane with his friend, Tara Fetherolf, who is a planetary science researcher from UC Riverside, also revealed a simulation that there is a giant gas planet in the middle of the habitable zone.
The result would still be the same as if there were a giant gas planet outside the habitable zone. In this case, the solar system studied is the GJ 357 solar system which has a giant gas planet in the habitable zone.
This large gas planet will affect the orbit of small rocky planets like Earth and also create extreme climates on small rocky planets.
“In other words, its orbit would produce crazy climates on those planets, this paper is really a warning, when we find planets in the habitable zone, don’t assume they are automatically capable of harboring life,” said Kane.
Luckily in our Solar System, the presence of Jupiter does not have a bad influence on Earth. In fact, Jupiter protects Earth from various threatening asteroids.
*This article was written by Argya D. Maheswara, participant of the Merdeka Campus Certified Internship Program at detikcom
Watch the video “BMKG on Earthquake-Tsunami Mitigation: Not Relying Enough on Technology”
(fyk/fyk)
2023-11-05 08:05:22
#Planet #Jupiter #Protects #Earth #Destruction #But..
