Long before it became the giant planet we see today, Jupiter was even bigger and had a much stronger magnetic field, according to a new study that looked back in time to reveal what the world was like in its early years.
The updated computations, outlined in a
paper
published Tuesday (May 20) in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggest that just 3.8 million years after the solar system’s first solid objects formed,
Jupiter
was twice its current size and had a magnetic field at least 50 times stronger than what we see today.
Their main objective is to comprehend our origins, and pinpointing the initial stages of planetary formation is crucial for unraveling this mystery,
Konstantin Batygin
,a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, who headed the new research, stated in a
statement
This moves us further toward comprehending how both Jupiter and our entire solar system formed.
To reveal Jupiter’s early environmental settings, Batygin and his colleagues mainly sidestepped the preconceptions within current theories of planet creation, particularly how quickly primeval gases were accumulated by nascent planets. Rather than following this approach, their research centered on two less-studied Jovian satellites: Amalthea and Thebe.
These miniature satellites circle closely around Jupiter and travel along orbits that are only mildly inclined. Scientists believe these trajectories haven’t altered much from their original states since the formation of our solar system. Using this information about the slight inclinations of their orbits, the investigators managed to reconstruct Jupiter’s initial dimensions and magnetic power, as reported in the recent research paper.
The team’s calculations indicate that young Jupiter had a radius nearly twice its current size, with a volume large enough to hold more than 2,000 Earths. In the present day, the planet’s volume can fit 1,321 Earths.
Even though the research does not specifically investigate the impact of having an enormous Jupiter on the early solar system, it highlights that the planet’s formation and initial development were crucial in establishing the overall structure of the solar system.
Based on the observations by Batygin and his colleagues, these recent discoveries highlight Jupiter during an important phase when the residual cloud of gas and dust from the Sun’s creation was dissipating. This event signaled the conclusion of planetary formation and solidified the fundamental structure of our solar system.
The significance of this finding lies in establishing a crucial reference point,” Batygin stated in the release. “One from which we can better trace the development of our solar system with greater confidence.
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