NASA astrophysicists have named Jupiter a killer planet. According to scientists, the current structure of the solar system is due to the fact that billions of years ago, Jupiter destroyed several celestial bodies that met on its way.
According to the researchers, the change in direction from the inner to the outer side of the solar system's orbit stopped the space killer. What if Jupiter decides to change trajectory again today? Should the Earth be afraid of the "gas giant"? What are the consequences of such changes?
Scientists called the planets that existed in our solar system at the dawn of its formation super-earths. NASA believes Jupiter may have been the cause of their disappearance.
Jupiter is one of the oldest planets in the solar system (according to scientists, it was formed immediately after the appearance of the sun). Scientists believe that since its inception, Jupiter could have swallowed more than a dozen planets, and it is quite possible that Mars, Venus, Mercury and our Earth familiar to us today are just fragments of celestial bodies that were once destroyed by the gas giant.
According to a number of cosmologists, the gravitational force of Jupiter is so great that with its gravitational field, it first captured the nearest neighbors, and then literally tore them apart.
According to the known scheme of the structure of the solar system, only one neighbor, Mars, separates us from Jupiter, which means that if the gravitational field of the "gas giant" begins to absorb the surrounding bodies, then the red planet will become its first victim. But in outer space, the balance is so fragile that the slightest change or displacement can lead to global consequences.
Scientists believe that NASA's astrophysicists have known about the threat from Jupiter for a long time, perhaps for this reason the space agency sent the unmanned spacecraft Juno to the killer planet. It reached its goal relatively recently (in 2016, and launched in 2011) and the very first data that he transmitted shocked scientists. It turns out that Jupiter can replace our main luminary, the Sun.
Promotional video:
In order to continue the study of the "gas giant", the Americans are already building an entire orbital observatory "Clipper". This spacecraft of the future is set to land on the surface of one of Jupiter's 69 moons, Europa, by 2020.
Satellite Europa is possibly covered with an ice sheet, under which there is a salty ocean up to 100 km deep (there is oxygen). Biologists assume there is life there.
Ufologists believe that the real reason for the creation of "Clipper" is the discovery by NASA staff of signs of the presence of extraterrestrial civilizations on the moons of Jupiter.
According to Russian astrophysicists, in the next billion years, mankind has no serious reason to fear Jupiter. Moreover, there is a version that he is, on the contrary, the protector of the Earth. The fact is that cosmic boulders, asteroids and giant meteorites, which theoretically could cause significant damage to our planet, do not reach us precisely because of the powerful gravitational field of the "gas giant".