UCR: Venus Might Be Habitable Today, If Not for Jupiter

[bystander]

Venus Might Be Habitable Today, If Not for Jupiter
University of California, Riverside | 2020 Sep 30

Study shows destabilizing effect of the giant gas planet.

Hubble Image of Jupiter and Europa ~ Credit: NASA, ESA, HST, A. Simon (GSFC), M. H. Wong (UC Berkeley) and the OPAL Team

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Venus might not be a sweltering, waterless hellscape today, if Jupiter hadn’t altered its orbit around the sun, according to new UC Riverside research.

Jupiter has a mass that is two-and-a-half times that of all other planets in our solar system — combined. Because it is comparatively gigantic, it has the ability to disturb other planets’ orbits.

Early in Jupiter’s formation as a planet, it moved closer to and then away from the sun due to interactions with the disc from which planets form as well as the other giant planets. This movement in turn affected Venus.

Observations of other planetary systems have shown that similar giant planet migrations soon after formation may be a relatively common occurrence. ...

Scientists consider planets lacking liquid water to be incapable of hosting life as we know it. Though Venus may have lost some water early on for other reasons, and may have continued to do so anyway, UCR astrobiologist Stephen Kane said that Jupiter’s movement likely triggered Venus onto a path toward its current, inhospitable state. ...

Could the Migration of Jupiter Have Accelerated the Atmospheric Evolution of Venus? ~ Stephen R. Kane et al

• Planetary Science Journal 1(2):42 (2020 Sep) DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/abae63
• arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:2008.04927 > 11 Aug 2020 (v1), 31 Aug 2020 (v2)

[orin stepanek]

do you think that Jupiter may influence the weather of other planets?

[Ann]

do you think that Jupiter may influence the weather of other planets?

I can't help thinking that Jupiter may have helped the Earth to become so eminently habitable, by pushing our planet into the exactly right sweet spot in the Solar system.

Ann

[orin stepanek]

do you think that Jupiter may influence the weather of other planets?

I can't help thinking that Jupiter may have helped the Earth to become so eminently habitable, by pushing our planet into the exactly right sweet spot in the Solar system.

Ann

I was wondering if Jupiter may have some effect on Earths climate change! Oh well; I guess that's a little far fetched! How many times are we closer to Jupiter during Jovian Year?