There have been numerous space missions to investigate the formation of the Moon, Mars, Sun, and our galaxy, but few have been able to solve the puzzle of how the enormous planet came to be.
There is a reason Jupiter is referred to as the largest planet in our solar system, according to a recent study. It turns out that it grew to be this enormous size—300 times larger than Earth—by eating other smaller planets.
Scientists hypothesised that Jupiter consumed young planets, also known as planetesimals, to fuel its expansion by analysing gravitational data gathered by NASA’s Juna satellite probe and the composition of the rocky material near the gas giant’s core.
An multinational group of astronomers under the direction of Yamila Miguel of the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research developed this notion. Last week, they had their article published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
‘One of the first planets to form in our solar system was Jupiter. However, we can’t say anything with certainty about how it came into being’ According to Leiden University astronomer Yamila Miguel, Live Science.
‘We were able to restrict the distribution of the material in Jupiter’s interior thanks to Juno’s extremely precise gravity data. We can only obtain data this unique from a spacecraft orbiting the planet, ‘Added her.
Jupiter began its life by accreting rocky material, just like every other planet in the solar system. Today, it may primarily be a mass of whirling gas.
The planet’s rocky core got so thick as more and more rocks were drawn in by gravity that it began attracting significant volumes of gas from a great distance, primarily hydrogen and helium leftover from the sun’s creation, to create its massive atmosphere.
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