Astrophysics: Earth could be more livable with different orbits of Jupiter

If Jupiter revolved around the sun in a different orbit, Earth might be more livable than it already is. The research team discovered this with the help of simulations. It contradicts the idea that any change in Jupiter’s orbit would be bad for us.

If the orbit of the largest planet in the solar system becomes more elliptical, this will have a direct impact on our home planet due to the mass of Jupiter: its orbit will also become more eccentric, more regions of the Earth will be pushed closer to the sun’s rays and thus heat up. The team stresses that all this is not just a mind game, the work has consequences for the search for habitable exoplanets.

Not quite perfect, but it could be worse

“If the position of Jupiter in the solar system remains the same, but the shape of the orbit is changed, this could lead to an increase in the habitability of this planet,” Planetary scientist Pam Vervoort from the University of California says:. led analysis. More areas on our home planet will then be heated to the point that temperatures are not constantly below freezing.

At the same time, she and her team discovered that Jupiter orbiting close to the sun would tilt the Earth so much that large parts of it remain frozen all year long. Even if things obviously could be better, Jupiter’s orbit may be less favorable to us and our environment.

The research team now wants to apply the findings to the search and search for exoplanets. Their analysis once again confirms that the motions of gas giant planets in distant star systems are important when it comes to determining whether other worlds there could host Earth-like life—that is, they could contain liquid water at the surface in particular. It also shows that apart from the proximity of the star and the amount of incoming radiation, there are many other factors that affect the habitability, such as the tilt. But the work also helps understand the history of life on Earth and what the solar system has had on it. I got Published in the astronomical magazine.

(mo)