Latest news with #Batygin
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Jupiter designed the solar system. Here's what the planet was like as a child.
Jupiter, the largest planet orbiting the sun, used to be much bigger and stronger when the solar system was just beginning to take shape, a pair of astronomers say. Two scientists at Caltech and the University of Michigan suggest that early Jupiter was at least double its contemporary size. The primitive version of the gas giant could have held some 8,000 Earths within it, said Konstantin Batygin, lead author of the new study. What's more, young Jupiter probably had a magnetic field 50 times more powerful. A magnetic field is an invisible force surrounding a planet that interacts with charged particles coming from the sun and cosmic rays. To calculate those measurements, the scientists looked at how Jupiter's moons move through space and how the planet spins. This unconventional approach, which didn't rely on traditional models, may fill gaps in the solar system's history. Many scientists refer to Jupiter as the "architect" of the solar system because its immense gravity influenced the orbits of other planets and carved up the cloud from which they all emerged. "More than any other planet, Jupiter played a key role in shaping our solar system," Batygin said in a post on X. "Yet details of its early physical state are elusive." SEE ALSO: Private spacecraft circling moon snaps photo with strange optical illusion NASA's Juno spacecraft snaps images of Jupiter and catches the tiny moon Amalthea as it orbits the planet. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt The paper, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, rewinds the clock to just 3.8 million years after the first solid objects formed in the solar system and the cloud of gas and dust from which everything formed started to evaporate. This period — when the building materials for planets disappeared — is thought to be a pivotal point, when the general design of the solar system was locked in. Jupiter, roughly 562 million miles from Earth today, has nearly 100 moons. But Batygin and his collaborator Fred Adams' research focused on two of the smaller ones, Amalthea and Thebe. Both are inside the orbit of the much larger moon Io, the most volcanically active world in the solar system, according to NASA. These smaller moons have curiously tilted orbits, and their paths around the planet seem to hold clues about how Jupiter and its bevy of moons moved in the past, Batygin told Mashable. As Io migrates away from Jupiter, its gravity causes a kickback — sort of like how a gun recoils when it's fired — that has contributed to the tilts of the smaller moons. "Similar to how our moon gradually moves away from Earth due to tides, Io is slowly drifting outward from Jupiter," Batygin said. By measuring Amalthea and Thebe's tilted orbits, the scientists reconstructed Io's previous position. That location, they said, should help determine the outer edge of the disk of gas and dust that once surrounded the planet. Based on where they believe the disk ended, the researchers extrapolated how fast Jupiter was spinning back then: about once per day, comparable to its spin now. Knowing Jupiter's early spin also helped them calculate its size. By applying the physics rules of spinning objects, they figured out how big Jupiter had to have been to match that rotation. The size of a young planet sheds light on its heat and interior dynamics as well. The scientists have concluded that early Jupiter must have started out extremely hot — about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a far cry from its modern average temperature of about -170 degrees. The heat suggests Jupiter had a much stronger magnetic field. That allowed the team to calculate how fast Jupiter was collecting gas and growing — about the weight of one modern-day Jupiter every million years. "It's astonishing," said Adams in a statement, "that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence."
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Jupiter is our solar system's biggest planet by far. It used to be twice as large: Study
Jupiter is already the biggest planet by far in our solar system, but new research suggests it was somehow once even larger than it is now. Twice as large, in fact. To put that into context, those dimensions would make the gas giant big enough to fit 2,000 Earths inside of it – if it were hollow. The shocking findings were part of a recent study in which astronomers effectively peered back in time to discover what Jupiter was like in its early years. The astronomers behind the study – Konstantin Batygin, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, and Fred C. Adams, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Michigan – didn't necessarily set out to make such an extraordinary discovery. Rather, the researchers were set on better understanding Jupiter's early evolution and how our solar system developed its distinct structure. "Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle," Batygin said in a press release announcing the findings. "This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire solar system took shape." Jupiter news: Jupiter's auroras put Earth's to shame. NASA's Webb just got a stunning look at them Jupiter is not only the largest in the solar system, but is so humongous that it's more than twice as massive as the other planets combined. The gas giant is about 11 times wider than Earth alone, with a diameter around its equator of 88,846 miles. And it's size is far from the only extreme feature that defines the fifth planet from the sun. The world is home to gigantic storms bigger than Australia, 100-mph winds pummeling its northern reaches and a rocky moon named Io orbiting it that is notoriously riddled with lava-spewing volcanoes. According to the researchers, Jupiter's gravity, often called the "architect" of our solar system, played a critical role in shaping the orbits of other planets and sculpting the disk of gas and dust from which they formed. The gas giant's influential place in shaping our solar system and is what intrigued Batygin and Adams to take a closer look at Jupiter's primordial state. According to their calculations, about 3.8 millions years after the first solid materials in our solar system formed, Jupiter was twice as large as it is now. Jupiter's magnetic field was also much more powerful at that time, about 50 times stronger than it is today. While Io is among the most well-known of Jupiter's 95 moons, the duo instead studied two tiny moons Amalthea and Thebe to reach their conclusions. The celestial objects are so small, they're not even among Jupiter's four famous Galilean moons, which does include Io. But Amalthea and Thebe orbit the planet even closer than Io and have slightly tilted orbits that allowed the astronomers to analyze "small orbital discrepancies" to calculate Jupiter's original size. "It's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence," Adams said in a statement. Astronomers estimate that Jupiter is steadily shrinking to this day by up to two centimeters a year. This is because of a process by which the planet grows smaller as it gradually cools and its internal temperature drops, causing the planet to lose energy and consistently contract. Batygin and Adam say their analysis provides a snapshot of Jupiter at a critical cosmic moment when the building materials for planet formation in our solar system disappeared, locking in its core architecture. Their results also add context to planetary formation models developed over decades suggesting that Jupiter and other similar gas planets formed through a process called core accretion in which a rocky and icy core rapidly gathers gas. "What we've established here is a valuable benchmark," Batygin said in a statement. "A point from which we can more confidently reconstruct the evolution of our solar system." The findings were published Tuesday, May 20 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How big is Jupiter? Study suggests gas giant was once twice as large
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Jupiter is our solar system's biggest planet by far. It used to be twice as large: Study
Jupiter is our solar system's biggest planet by far. It used to be twice as large: Study A recent study found that Jupiter was once twice the size that it is now, making it big enough to swallow up 2,000 Earths. Jupiter is already the biggest planet by far in our solar system, but new research suggests it was somehow once even larger than it is now. Twice as large, in fact. To put that into context, those dimensions would make the gas giant big enough to fit 2,000 Earths inside of it – if it were hollow. The shocking findings were part of a recent study in which astronomers effectively peered back in time to discover what Jupiter was like in its early years. The astronomers behind the study – Konstantin Batygin, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, and Fred C. Adams, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Michigan – didn't necessarily set out to make such an extraordinary discovery. Rather, the researchers were set on better understanding Jupiter's early evolution and how our solar system developed its distinct structure. "Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle," Batygin said in a press release announcing the findings. "This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire solar system took shape." Jupiter news: Jupiter's auroras put Earth's to shame. NASA's Webb just got a stunning look at them How big is Jupiter? What to know about gas giant Jupiter is not only the largest in the solar system, but is so humongous that it's more than twice as massive as the other planets combined. The gas giant is about 11 times wider than Earth alone, with a diameter around its equator of 88,846 miles. And it's size is far from the only extreme feature that defines the fifth planet from the sun. The world is home to gigantic storms bigger than Australia, 100-mph winds pummeling its northern reaches and a rocky moon named Io orbiting it that is notoriously riddled with lava-spewing volcanoes. According to the researchers, Jupiter's gravity, often called the "architect" of our solar system, played a critical role in shaping the orbits of other planets and sculpting the disk of gas and dust from which they formed. Jupiter was once twice its current size, study finds The gas giant's influential place in shaping our solar system and is what intrigued Batygin and Adams to take a closer look at Jupiter's primordial state. According to their calculations, about 3.8 millions years after the first solid materials in our solar system formed, Jupiter was twice as large as it is now. Jupiter's magnetic field was also much more powerful at that time, about 50 times stronger than it is today. While Io is among the most well-known of Jupiter's 95 moons, the duo instead studied two tiny moons Amalthea and Thebe to reach their conclusions. The celestial objects are so small, they're not even among Jupiter's four famous Galilean moons, which does include Io. But Amalthea and Thebe orbit the planet even closer than Io and have slightly tilted orbits that allowed the astronomers to analyze "small orbital discrepancies" to calculate Jupiter's original size. "It's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence," Adams said in a statement. Why did Jupiter get smaller? Astronomers estimate that Jupiter is steadily shrinking to this day by up to two centimeters a year. This is because of a process by which the planet grows smaller as it gradually cools and its internal temperature drops, causing the planet to lose energy and consistently contract. Research could help 'reconstruct the evolution of our solar system' Batygin and Adam say their analysis provides a snapshot of Jupiter at a critical cosmic moment when the building materials for planet formation in our solar system disappeared, locking in its core architecture. Their results also add context to planetary formation models developed over decades suggesting that Jupiter and other similar gas planets formed through a process called core accretion in which a rocky and icy core rapidly gathers gas. "What we've established here is a valuable benchmark," Batygin said in a statement. "A point from which we can more confidently reconstruct the evolution of our solar system." The findings were published Tuesday, May 20 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Jupiter Was Once Twice Its Size - And Its Magnetic Field Could Fry Spacecraft
The information of Jupiter's early evolution sheds light on the solar system's formation and structure. As the solar system's gravitational 'architect', Jupiter's influence was instrumental in shaping the orbits of other planets and defining the gas and dust disc from which they emerged. In a new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, Konstantin Batygin (PhD '12), professor of planetary science at Caltech; and Fred C. Adams, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Michigan; provide a detailed look into Jupiter's primordial state. Their calculations reveal that roughly 3.8 million years after the solar system's first solids formed-a key moment when the disk of material around the Sun, known as the protoplanetary nebula, was dissipating-Jupiter was significantly larger and had an even more powerful magnetic field. "Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle," Batygin says."This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire solar system took shape." Batygin and Adams approached this question by studying Jupiter's tiny moons Amalthea and Thebe, which orbit even closer to Jupiter than Io, the smallest and nearest of the planet's four large Galilean moons. Because Amalthea and Thebe have slightly tilted orbits, Batygin and Adams analyzed these small orbital discrepancies to calculate Jupiter's original size: approximately twice its current radius, with a predicted volume that is the equivalent of over 2,000 Earths. The researchers also determined that Jupiter's magnetic field at that time was approximately 50 times stronger than it is today. Adams highlights the remarkable imprint the past has left on today's solar system: "It's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence."
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Jupiter Was Twice Its Current Ginormous Size, Scientists Discover
Jupiter's already the big kahuna of the Solar System, an absolute unit of a planet with a mass 2.5 times greater than all of the rest of the planets combined. Prepare, then, to have your mind blown – the Solar System's biggest planet was once even bigger. New calculations suggest that early Jupiter could have had as much as 2.5 times its volume today, say astronomers Konstantin Batygin from Caltech and Fred Adams of the University of Michigan. Based on their study of two of the moons of Jupiter, the scientists have found that, just 3.8 million years after the first solid materials formed in the Solar System, Jupiter was 2 to 2.5 times its current volume, with a significantly more powerful magnetic field to boot. This is a finding that supports the bottom-up method of planet formation for the giant gas-shrouded world. "Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle," Batygin says. "This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire Solar System took shape." We believe that rocky worlds, like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, form from the bottom up, a gradual accumulation of dust and rocks to eventually build an entire world, with a differentiated core and all. This is known as core accretion. Gas giants are thought to start out the same way, but once they reach a certain mass, around 10 times the mass of Earth, they have enough gravity to retain a substantial gas envelope, and begin to accumulate that, too. This process is thought to have taken place in the outer Solar System, since there wouldn't be enough material closer to the Sun to accumulate the large core. Since the formation and evolution of Jupiter is thought to have played a key role in the formation and evolution of the architecture of the Solar System, the details of how it was born and how it grew are of intense interest to planetary scientists. Since we can't just, you know, rewind the Solar System though, we need to look at what's happening now to try and reconstruct the past. Typically, this involves using standard models of planet formation collected from observing planetary systems (including our own) throughout the Milky Way and constructing a model based on those observations. These models, however, involve a lot of guesswork and connecting the dots, and as such, tend to leave significant uncertainties. Batygin and Adams took a different approach: they studied the orbital motions of Amalthea and Thebe, two tiny Jovian moons that orbit close to the planet, closer even than the orbit of Io. The orbits of these tiny moons are tilted with respect to Jupiter's equator. These tilts, previous work has shown, can be used to back-trace the orbital history of these tiny moons. Batygin and Adams used that orbital history to reconstruct the early evolution of Jupiter. "It's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years," Adams says, "enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence." Their results showed that Jupiter had a period of rapid, intense growth early in the history of the Solar System. Just 3.8 million years after the first solids emerged, Jupiter's volume was at least twice its current volume. Moreover, its magnetic field was 50 times higher than it is now, facilitating a rate of accretion from a disk of material feeding into the planet of around 1.2 to 2.4 Jupiter masses per million years. This rapid growth phase developed the planet and put it on the path to becoming the Jupiter we see today. When the material around Jupiter eventually dissipated, the planet itself contracted under its own gravity, reducing its volume, and increasing its spin speed. Jupiter continues to shrink to this day as its surface and internal temperatures fall, compressing and heating its core and thus losing energy, although this occurs at a very slow rate. Even with a larger volume, Jupiter was never close to massive enough to achieve star status. It would need to be at least 85 times its current mass to be able to ignite core hydrogen fusion, a defining feature of all stars. What the team's work gives us is a new tool for understanding Jupiter and its role in the Solar System, where it is thought to have played a vital part in stabilizing the planets enough so that life could emerge on Earth. "What we've established here is a valuable benchmark," Batygin says. "A point from which we can more confidently reconstruct the evolution of our Solar System." The research has been published in Nature Astronomy. Early Universe's Milky Way 'Twin' Looked Surprisingly Like Our Galaxy Dark Streaks on Mars May Not Be Signs of Flowing Water Like We Thought Bright Streak Appears Over US During Aurora Storm, Mystifying Skywatchers
