Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Solar System May Have Lost Fifth Giant Planet
Astronomer David Nesvorny from the Southwest Research Institute in Texas believes
that the solar system might have once contained a fifth gigantic
planet, which was ejected deep into the galaxy in a moment of cosmic
turmoil. By looking at the population of the Kuiper belt
— the icy-cold ring of asteroids beyond Neptune — and by studying the
historical fingerprints left on the craters of the Moon, Nesvorny was
able to piece together clues about our solar system’s adolescence.
He found that a dynamic instability, which occurred about 600 million
years into the solar system’s life, greatly affected the orbit of our
giant planets and scattered smaller bodies. Some moved into the Kuiper
belt and others traveled inwards, marking their course as impacts on the
Moon and planets. link
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