HeidrylB's Site

With the countless problems and indulgences that are plentiful on Earth, it’s easy to forget what is around us and be ignorant of what outside factors form the world into how we know it today. With climate change on the rise, the furthest one would let their mind wander from Earth is to the other terrestrial planets, wondering if they could ever become habitable for mankind. Knowing that the gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, couldn’t ever be habitable because they are—well, gas—these outer planets are often dismissed from the conversation and their contributions to our Solar System are overlooked. So, for a better understanding of the relationships between the Jovian planets, the Earth, and the Solar System as a whole, I researched the question “What would happen if our Solar System’s gas giants never existed?” and have found that the gas giants heavily influence the orbits of other celestial bodies, impacting its climate and formation in our Solar System.

According to Dennis V. Kent’s research article published in 2018, Jupiter and Venus’ gravity affects the Earth’s climate. Due to Venus’ proximity to Earth and Jupiter’s massiveness, these two planets’ gravitational pulls affect the Earth’s orbit around the Sun and causes the Earth to wobble, changing the pattern of sunlight that falls on its surface. On Earth, this presents itself as extremer climates, such as hotter summers, colder winters, and more or less rainfall depending on the cycle’s timing. At its peak, it can cause flooding in tropical regions, and less rain near the end of the cycle. This cycle has been happening every 405,000 years for at least the past 215 million years, allowing scientists to better estimate geographical events. Now, with Jupiter’s absence, the cycle would differ, and consequently, the Earth’s climate too. A valuable method in dating geographical events would be lost as well, potentially creating a worse struggle in understanding the Earth’s history.

Furthermore, Jupiter’s absence would also mean the absence of a major contributor to the cultivation of life. A 2016 study by Kevin R. Grazier found that Jupiter delivers volatile-rich planetesimals from the outer Solar System to the inner Solar System with the help of Saturn who passes these planetesimals to it by redirecting them into Jupiter’s orbit. Volatile-rich planetesimals are comets or asteroids contain easily evaporable and life-enabling elements. This supposedly allowed the Earth to develop its atmosphere and hydrosphere to be suitable for life. And though ineffectively, Jupiter throws incoming asteroids out of the Solar System or into the outskirts of the Solar System, thus being commonly dubbed “a shield” for the inner planets. Though this idea may be accurate to some degree, Grazier discourages this over-simplification of Jupiter’s role since it gives the impression that it is impenetrable, and instead compares Jupiter to a screen-door: “…some dust grains will pass through un-
impeded, some will glance off the mesh and pass through
anyway, and a small fraction of dust grains will impact the
mesh and be repelled.” (Grazier, 2016, p. 36).

Similarly, the asteroid belt wouldn’t form as we know it without Jupiter. The asteroid belt is disk-shaped and formed by millions of asteroids from leftover planetesimals from the formation of the planets early in the Solar System’s history. Jupiter’s gravitational pull forms the asteroid belt and keeps it in order. Without Jupiter or the other Jovian planets, there may not be any planet with a gravity strong enough that could shepherd the belt. This disorganization of celestial debris may cause numerous collisions with planets and celestial bodies. These collisions could technically provide the inner planets with the ingredients necessary for life, but with the absence of Jupiter and Saturn, the collision rate wouldn’t be controlled in any way and could be detrimental to the Earth’s biosphere, if it would have formed at all.

In a similar way, the Kuiper Belt could have formed a planet had Neptune not existed. The Kuiper Belt is a region of icy objects in the shape of a doughnut that lies past Neptune, where the dwarf planet Pluto resides. Like the asteroid belt, it is formed by leftover debris from the formation of the Solar System and was shaped by a planet, Neptune. The Kuiper Belt currently weighs 10% of the Earth’s mass, but it is theorized that it has lost a great part of its mass during Neptune and Uranus’ migration. The theory claims that ~4.5 billion years ago, Neptune and Uranus formed closer to the Sun along with the other planets. But approximately 4 billion years ago, Jupiter and Saturn’s orbits shifted, causing Neptune and Uranus to drift away from the Sun and through a disk of icy debris leftover from the formation of the Jovian planets. During this migration, Neptune’s gravity pushed the icy debris towards the other Jovian planets deeper into the Solar System, to which Jupiter then removed said debris from the Solar System or threw away to the Solar System’s outskirts, forming the theoretical Oort Cloud that surrounds the Solar System. The belt’s total mass lost from this process is estimated to be about 7-10 times the mass of the Earth, leaving its current mass at 10% of the Earth’s. So, if Neptune and Uranus were to be absent from the Solar System, it is possible that the Kuiper Belt could have formed a planet that is at least 7 times more massive than the Earth, or in other words, 41% of Neptune’s mass. Also, the Oort Cloud could be much less densely populated, as Jupiter wouldn’t exist to eject objects to the edges of the Solar System.

How I calculated the estimated total mass of the original Kuiper Belt:

• Found 10% of Earth’s mass (kg) (current Kuiper Belt mass)
  • (5.98 x 10^24) x 0.10 = 98 x 10^23
• Found 7x Earth’s mass (approx. mass lost from Kuiper Belt)
  • (5.98 x 10^24) x 7 = 186e+25
• Added them together to get minimum total mass of original Kuiper Belt
  • 98 x 10^23 + 4.186e+25 = 4.2458 x 10^25
• Found mass percentage compared to other planets mass (kg. Exponents removed for ease of calculation)
  • 2458 ÷ (Earth) 0.598 = 7.1 = 710%
  • 42458 ÷ (Neptune) 1.024 = 0.41462890625 = ~41%

Here’s a video for a better understanding of the Jovian planets’ migration:

To summarize, the four gas giants, primarily Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune affect the orbits of asteroids, comets, and planets, resulting in a 405,000 year cycle causing more extreme temperature differences on Earth, Jupiter’s deflecting objects and delivering volatiles to the inner planets, and the formation of the asteroid belt, Oort Cloud, and Kuiper Belt. Without these gas giants, we may struggle more in dating geographical events if life had been able to develop with the heightened collisions between and asteroids and comets and celestial bodies like Earth. There would be less icy bodies in the Oort Cloud, and with Neptune’s absence, the Kuiper Belt would not have lost part of its mass, and could potentially coalesce into a planet measuring to at least 41% of Neptune’s mass. Evidently, the Jovian planets play important roles in keeping the Solar System as habitable as it is today, and without them, we would not have the chance to enjoy our indulgences at all like we do today.

 

Reflection

What questions did you need to research in order to research your topic?

Since astronomy is very complex and full of unfamiliar terms, I had to research definitions and the Solar System’s formation in order to get a proper understanding of my topic. And most importantly I had to research how each individual gas giant contributes to the Solar System. Some examples are:

• What is the Oort Cloud and what is it made of?
• What is the Kuiper Belt and what is it made of?
• What is the asteroid belt and where is it?
• What is a planetesimal?
• What is a Jovian planet?
• What is a volatile?
• How does Jupiter affect the Solar System/Earth?
  • What disproves the Jupiter as a shield concept?
• How does Saturn affect the Solar System/Earth?
• How does Neptune affect the Solar System/Earth?
• How does Uranus affect the Solar System/Earth?
• What is the mass of Neptune/Earth?

What new or familiar digital tools did you try to use as you worked through this project?

Familiar tools: Google, Citation Machine, YouTube. I tried to use the library’s database which is fairly new to me, but I struggled a bit to use it due to the unfamiliarity of it, and I couldn’t find sources that fit my question. Though I do think it is an excellent resource especially when looking for scientific studies, and I will try to use it again for future projects.

What was the process you used to investigate the topic?

Firstly, I used the research template given to write down notes for relevant sources that I found. Secondly, I opened a Word document to organize all of my information into categories (climate, and asteroids & comets) while filtering out the irrelevant information. While I organized my information, I wrote in paragraphs when it felt appropriate, and wrote other notes in bullet form/sentences. I made sure to write the implications of the absence of the planets relevant to the topic below each category. And lastly, I wrote this Edublog post, which went pretty smoothly thanks to my method in organizing my notes. I found any media needed for clarifying topics when I found it necessary during this writing stage.

How did you verify and cite the information you found?

I looked for a biography of the author to see if they were qualified for the topic, and compared information with sources I knew were reliable. I used Citation Machine to cite my sources, and looked for missing information about the source when Citation Machine couldn’t find it.

How did the process of completing this challenge go? What could you have done better?

It was a bit difficult to research and organize my information. I originally wanted to research how all the planets in the Solar System (other than Earth) affect Earth and the Solar System, but I struggled in finding information for the terrestrial planets, and I found that it was too big of a question for the amount of time given for the project. So, I changed the focus of my research onto the gas giants, and things went more smoothly. Another challenge I faced was that there were certain concepts that were still being argued between scientists, such as Jupiter’s role in the Solar System. Many websites said that Jupiter is a “shield” protecting Earth, but one credible study from a scientist explained that Jupiter’s role is much more complex than that. Going back and forth between the two arguments and rewriting/deleting my notes from sources that I realized were untrustworthy made me lose a lot of time, but in the end I was able to make sense of it and summarize it well.

What I could have done better was finding information for Uranus, as I was not able to because I was running short on time. I quickly skimmed through a Google search, and realized that I would have to do some digging to find information. If I had made a clear schedule that guaranteed enough time for me to research each planet in-depth, I could have found more information on Uranus, letting me better answer my question.

 

References

Barnett, A. (n.d.-a). In Depth | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration. NASA. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/in-depth.amp

Barnett, A. (n.d.-b). In Depth | Oort Cloud – NASA Solar System Exploration. NASA. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/oort-cloud/in-depth.amp

Brogan, C. (2023, January 27). Meteorites reveal likely origin of Earth’s volatile chemicals | Imperial News | Imperial College London. Imperial News. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/242771/meteorites-reveal-likely-origin-earths-volatile/

Dejoie, J., & Truelove, E. (n.d.). Starchild: The asteroid belt. NASA. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level2/asteroids.html

Grazier, K. R. (2016). Jupiter: Cosmic Jekyll and Hyde. Astrobiology, 16(1), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2015.1321

NASA. (n.d.). Jupiter’s influence. Mission Juno. https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/origin?show=hs_origin_story_jupiters-influence

Planetesimal Formation. The Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education. (2022, July 25). https://sciences.ucf.edu/physics/microgravity/planetesimal-formation/

Rice, D. (2018, May 7). Weird but true: Orbits of Jupiter and Venus Affect Earth’s climate, new study says. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/05/07/climate-changes-orbits-jupiter-and-venus-affect-earths-climate/587280002/

Tillman, N. T. (2012, December 14). How Big is Neptune?. Space.com. https://www.space.com/18924-how-big-is-neptune.html

Tillman, N. T. (2017, May 4). Asteroid belt: Facts & formation. Space.com. https://www.space.com/16105-asteroid-belt.html

University Of Toronto. (1997, December 18). Other planets influence Earth’s climate, University of Toronto Scientist says. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/12/971218090305.htm