So
what’s the whole reason behind the issue of whether a massive, rocky
world collided with Jupiter when the solar system was young? Well, the
gas giant might be the biggest thing in the solar system besides the
Sun, but according to most measurements, it seems to have a relatively
small core for its size while Saturn, which is the second biggest
planet, has a much heavier core despite basically being
a giant puff ball that could float on water due to its low density. So
what does that tell us about these planets’ formation? Well, we’re not
really sure. That’s why the Jovian anatomy is still being measured and
re-measured in planetary science and why a team of scientists in China
wanted to see if a big enough collision could shed some light on the
issue…
Jupiter and Saturn are thought to have begun life as rocky worlds with
the mass of at least a few Earths. Their gravity then pulled in gas from
their birth nebula, giving them dense atmospheres. In this picture, all
gas giants should have cores of roughly the same size. Yet gravity
measurements suggest Jupiter’s core weighs just two to 10 Earth masses,
while Saturn’s comes in at 15 to 30.
Simulations by Shu Lin Li of Peking University in China, and
colleagues, may explain why. They calculated what would happen when a
super-Earth of 10 times the mass of our planet slammed into a gas giant.
The rocky body flattened like a pancake when it hit the gas giant’s
atmosphere, then barreled into the giant’s core about half an hour
later. The energy of the collision could have vaporized much of the
core.
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