A new study suggests an enormous object, possibly a brown dwarf, may have passed through our solar system billions of years ago, influencing the orbits of the outer planets.
Theories about how the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune acquired their unique characteristics have long puzzled scientists. A recent pre-print research paper, awaiting peer review, suggests a compelling explanation: a colossal object, eight times the mass of Jupiter, may have traversed our solar system approximately 4 billion years ago.
This cosmic encounter could have significantly influenced the planets' orbital paths, resulting in their slightly elliptical shapes and tilted planes.The research team, led by planetary scientist Renu Malhotra of the University of Arizona in Tucson, conducted extensive computer simulations. They modeled the orbits of the four gas giants and ran 50,000 simulations of various massive objects passing through the solar system. While most simulations led to drastically different planetary arrangements, around 1% produced outcomes remarkably similar to our current solar system. These simulations indicated that an object between two and 50 times the mass of Jupiter, potentially a brown dwarf, could have passed through the inner solar system, warping the orbits of the outer planets.Brown dwarfs, classified as astronomical objects larger than planets but smaller than stars, possess masses ranging from 15 to 75 times that of Jupiter. They are sometimes referred to as 'failed stars' because they lack the mass to sustain hydrogen fusion in their cores. The researchers expanded their simulations to include the orbits of the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and found that the most probable scenario involved an object eight times the mass of Jupiter, approaching as close to the sun as Mars's current orbit. This study suggests that the seemingly peculiar orbits of the outer planets could be the legacy of a single, albeit impactful, encounter with such an object. The researchers estimate that similar encounters, while infrequent, are not entirely improbable, occurring with a probability of approximately 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 100,000 within open star clusters where our solar system likely formed.
Planetary Orbits Brown Dwarfs Solar System Formation Astrophysics Cosmic Encounters
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