Like huge playground bullies, planets like Jupiter can be agents of chaos around other stars, a pair of new studies suggests. Gas giant planets that are the size of Jupiter or larger create havoc in young planetary systems, often shoving smaller, Earth-sized planets way out of their original circular orbits. All this instabilityto get the idea: a planet – once hit by or veering too close to a neighbour – will see its climate permanently destabilise.
Bullying Jupiter-like planets may push ‘alien Earths’ away from life-friendly orbits
Nov 30, 2023
2 minutes
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