Story perspectives

Jupiter's Growth Shaped Our Solar System's Formation

10/30/2025

50 9

Summary

Story summary

Rice University researchers report that Jupiter's early growth disrupted the protoplanetary disk, creating rings and gaps that facilitated the formation of late-stage meteorites.
They combined hydrodynamic models with simulations to show Jupiter's gravity prevented particles from spiraling into the Sun, leading to a second generation of planetesimals.
The findings also explain why Earth, Venus, and Mars cluster around 1 astronomical unit from the Sun, as Jupiter suppressed their inward migration.

1 of 1

Story summary

Rice University researchers report that Jupiter's early growth disrupted the protoplanetary disk, creating rings and gaps that facilitated the formation of late-stage meteorites.
They combined hydrodynamic models with simulations to show Jupiter's gravity prevented particles from spiraling into the Sun, leading to a second generation of planetesimals.
The findings also explain why Earth, Venus, and Mars cluster around 1 astronomical unit from the Sun, as Jupiter suppressed their inward migration.