“Jupiters” Affect Formation of Earth-like Planets
TNRTB Archive – Retained for reference information
Recent planetary simulations have provided more evidence of fine-tuning in the solar system. Gas giants form faster than rocky planets like Earth, so the presence of a Jupiter-type planet affects the development of the rest of the planetary system. By simulating the growth of rocky planets with “Jupiters” of different sizes, distances from parent stars, and eccentricities, a Colorado astrophysicist has shown the difficulty of forming a sufficiently large planet with adequate water for the presence of life. If the gas giant forms inside a distance 3.5 times greater than the Earth-sun distance, no watery earthlike planets form—assuming the gas giant has a nearly circular orbit. For more eccentric orbits, no watery planets form. The solar system shows fine-tuning in having a gas giant with a circular orbit and a just-right distance from the Sun to permit Earth’s formation and provide adequate protection from cometary and asteroidal bombardment. Such fine-tuning is a natural part of RTB’s cosmic creation model, in which a supernatural Creator carefully crafted the solar system to support advanced life—especially humans.
- Sean N. Raymond, “The Search for Other Earths: Limits on the Giant Planet Orbits That Allow Habitable Terrestrial Planets to Form,” Astrophysical Journal Letters 643 (2006): L131-34.
- https://iopscience.iop.org/1538-4357/643/2/L131
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