Jupiter is both the largest and oldest planet

Risingbd Desk: Although we know that Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, a new study has confirmed the theory that it is also the oldest.

In the first-ever study to date Jupiter's age, researchers have discovered that the gas giant is 4.5 billion years old.

By looking at the composition of iron meteorites, they found Jupiter's solid core was created around one million years after the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago.

The researchers hope the findings will provide key insights into how the solar system evolved in its current formation.

While previous models predicted that Jupiter formed relatively early, the study, by an international team of researchers, led by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, is the first to date its formation.

Dr Thomas Kruijer, who led the study, said: 'We do not have any samples from Jupiter (in contrast to other bodies like the Earth, Mars, the moon and asteroids).

'In our study, we use isotope signatures of meteorites (which are derived from asteroids) to infer Jupiter's age.'

The scientists found that meteorites are made up from two genetically distinct resevoirs of gas and dust that co-existed, but remained separated, between one million and four million years after the solar system formed.

Dr Kruijer said: 'The most plausible mechanism for this efficient separation is the formation of Jupiter, opening a gap in the disc (a plane of gas and dust from stars) and preventing the exchange of material between the two reservoirs.

'Jupiter is the oldest planet of the solar system, and its solid core formed well before the solar nebula gas dissipated.'

Jupiter is the biggest planet, and its existence has a huge effect on our solar system.

As Jupiter rapidly evolved around one million years ago, the planet acted as a barrier against inward transport of material across our solar disc.

The researchers believe that this could explain why our solar system lacks any 'super-Earths' (extrasolar planets with a mass higher than Earth's).

Jupiter's core grew to about 20 Earth masses within one million years, followed by a more prolonged growth to 50 Earth masses until at least three to four million years after the solar system formed, according to the researchers.

The team concludes that Jupiter's core must have formed before the dissipation of the solar nebula - the gaseous disk surrounding the young sun - which likely occurred between one million years and 10 million years after the solar system formed.

Dr Kruijer added: 'Our measurements show that the growth of Jupiter can be dated using the distinct genetic heritage and formation times of meteorites.'

Source: The Mail




Risingbd/June 14, 2017/Mukul