A new study claims that if there were another planet between Mars and Jupiter, it could have some important implications for Earth.
According to the new paper published in the Planetary Science Journal, many astronomers have long debated whether a planet exists between Mars and Jupiter and fills the void there. However, if that were the case, we could be faced with an uninhabitable Earth.
Life on Earth is precious, and the Solar System we call our home is not the most stable system in the universe. In fact, previous studies had claimed that even a small shift in Jupiter’s orbit could have strange effects on Earth. What if we put a whole planet between Jupiter and Mars? According to UCR astrophysicist Stephen Kane, this could have rendered Earth uninhabitable.
The reason for this less habitable Earth could have been due to changes that a planet between Mars and Jupiter would make on the general orbit of planets in the Solar System. According to simulations, while minor planets of a certain size could exist in the region, it would not take long for them to plunge the Solar System into turmoil and, as a result, render the Earth uninhabitable.
In fact, Kane says, a large enough planet to exist between Mars and Jupiter could completely knock Earth out of its orbit. Of course, there’s no planet there, so all this speculation doesn’t matter in the long run. But the data on display could help us in our search for life outside Earth. Because knowing the conditions that will make Earth uninhabitable can help us determine whether other systems can support life as well.
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