Jupiter probably helped form the moon

Astronomers say that the “Great Instability” event occurred less than 100 million years after the birth of the solar system. In this great instability, the four gas giants of the solar system were disturbed in their orbits and the smaller objects of the solar system were also deviated from their orbits. Now, the results of a new study show that the changes in the orbit of Jupiter may have caused the instability of the orbit of a planet called “Tia”, its collision with the Earth and the formation of the Moon.

By studying the composition and position of different types of comets and asteroids, scientists have discovered the great instability event at the beginning of the birth of the solar system. We know that the objects of the solar system were formed from a disk of dust and gas around the sun; But the composition of many asteroids and comets is not consistent with the distribution of materials inside this disk. This suggests that these objects were separated from the original orbit at some point in their history.

Early in the formation of the solar system, the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were closer to each other. Gradually, the gravitational interactions of these gas giants with small planets beyond Neptune caused Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to move away from the Sun. At the same time, Jupiter got closer to the Sun.

These orbital changes caused the instability of the orbits of the internal bodies of the solar system. Astronomers call this theoryNot a modelThey call Because it was first developed in the French city of Nice. According to the position of the asteroids at Lagrangian points 4 and 5 in Jupiter's orbit, astronomers speculate that this event occurred at most 100 million years after the birth of the solar system.

The role of Jupiter in the formation of the moon

One of the questions of astronomers is the exact time of the beginning of this instability. Some say that the instability occurred only 4 million years after the birth of the solar system, while others say that this event occurred 60 million years after the birth of the solar system.

A group of astronomers sought the answer to this question in a new study. They focused on EL enstatite chondrite meteorites. These meteorites have a similar composition to Earth and probably all formed at the same point in the solar system's dust disk.

But these meteorites are no longer found near the Earth; Instead, observations show that they belong to the Athor family of asteroids in the outer region of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers believe that an event, possibly the Great Instability, moved these asteroids to their current location. So they are a good option to investigate this turbulent event.

Dynamic simulations of different scenarios of Jupiter's displacement showed that this gas giant dragged the ancestors of these asteroids to their current location at least 60 million years after the birth of the solar system. So scientists can now say that the Great Instability occurred 60 to 100 million years after the birth of the solar system.

Interestingly, the collision between Earth and the hypothetical planet Theia also happened around the same time. The combination of data suggests that this large impact (from the debris of which the Moon was formed) was probably the result of this large instability.

Of course, these findings are still not definitive proof. Proving events that occurred 4.5 billion years ago is a very difficult task. However, scientists say that the impact that formed the moon was accompanied by great instability.