According to recent studies by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, the
gas giant Jupiter is littered with tiny pieces of ancient celestial bodies that
used to exist like our own Earth, Venus, and Mars. Unfortunately, these
once-thriving planets didn’t live long; as they were destroyed by Jupiter’s
enormous gravitational pull, their remains eventually condensed into small
particles about 50–100 miles wide — known as planetesimals — that now roam
around in Jupiter’s cloud-covered atmosphere.
What scientists found
A team of researchers from Germany, Mexico, and Taiwan found
young planets—or rather, their remains—in a spot no one expected. The bizarre
find was made with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and it has astronomers
rethinking everything they know about planet formation. Here’s what you need to
know: A new study has scientists reeling after unearthing several small bodies
whirling around close to Jupiter.
Why this discovery was important
The recent discovery of baby planet remains in Jupiter’s
clouds is intriguing not just because it was such a shocking find, but also
because these results indicate that cannibalism may be more common than we
thought. Usually, astronomers discover planets that have been eaten by a star,
but they’ve never been able to observe an actual planet-eating process as it
happens until now.
What it means for our planet
The scientists used Juno’s microwave radiometer to peer deep
into Jupiter’s cloud-covered atmosphere and observe low-energy photons—no other
telescope has been able to see so far into our largest planet. This new
discovery provides a surprising insight into how planets like ours form,
changing our understanding of how Earth formed and giving us more clues about
what we should look for when searching for exoplanets outside our solar system.
How do we know this
Astronomers have found evidence of young planets eating each
other near a star called HR 8799, some 130 light-years from Earth. The
discovery is based on observations taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and
Spitzer Space Telescope between 2005 and 2013. During that time, astronomers
used spectroscopy to study how light changes when it passes through something
like a giant planet’s atmosphere.
Can other planets develop life?
While Earth is one of a select few planets where life has
been discovered, it’s also true that Earth might be an outlier and most other
planets might not be able to host life. We don’t know if extraterrestrial
creatures exist elsewhere in our solar system or in distant worlds. If they do,
they may have developed some new types of biochemistry based on different
elements than we have here on Earth.
What are the implications?
The implications behind these discoveries are that there is
a much larger number of planets than previously expected, meaning there is much
more life than previously thought. This discovery could also mean that we have
finally found conclusive evidence for extra-terrestrial life. This will have a
huge impact on our planet since we may be facing unknown threats from these
extra-terrestrial organisms, or perhaps allies.
What are the next steps?
As we learn more about baby planets, we’re starting to get a
clearer picture of how they form. New research presented at the Goldschmidt
Conference earlier this month reveals that some baby planets start out far
larger than what we previously thought possible. These young planets than have
a difficult time accreting enough mass to form cores and be visible to us;
instead, they become wandering stars known as brown dwarfs.