Earth Almost Lost Its Life Because of Another Planet

(NLDO) - The Solar System almost had a 9th planet. If that happened, we might not be on Earth.

The Solar System has a giant debris ring of countless asteroids and small meteoroids, located between Mars and Jupiter.

They had the potential to coalesce into a super-Earth as the Solar System took shape—there have even been failed planetary cores discovered there, such as the “golden asteroid” Psyche—but that didn’t happen.

A study from the Florida Institute of Technology (USA) has considered the second scenario of the Solar System: If another planet could have been born between Mars and Jupiter.

A super-Earth in the Solar System could be a "death sentence" for life on our planet - Graphic photo: SCITECH DAILY

Writing in the journal Icarus, the authors point out that if a planet could form there in place of the asteroid belt, it would be a super-Earth.

It's the kind of planet we've seen a lot in other star systems. But a large planet could cause harmful changes to the structure of the system.

When simulating a planet with a mass 10 times that of Earth, the authors show that this would result in four inner planets with high tilts and eccentricities.

Those four planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

High tilt and eccentricity can lead to dangerous temperature differences between seasons.

Additionally, the planet between Mars and Jupiter could also create interactions that push Earth closer to Venus.

Although Venus is also in the habitable zone of the Solar System, it is quite close to the inner border and not in the extremely favorable middle like Earth.

That poses a significant risk to the viability of life on the planet. Life may still evolve, but in a form other than ours.

Although hypothetical, these observations could help astrobiologists predict how and where life might exist in other planetary systems.

The study also provides an idea of ​​the size a super-Earth could reach before stifling the possibility of life around it.

So we could say we're lucky that Psyche is just a "failed planet," or that objects like Ceres are just dwarf planets.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/trai-dat-suyt-khong-co-su-song-vi-mot-hanh-tinh-khac-196250310114302578.htm