2012/02/06 by J. Horner, Jonathan Horner, Horner, J. +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Planetary Science and Exploration #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.EP
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1202.1314
16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table
arxiv created 2012/02/06 · openalex publication_date 2012/02/06 · arxiv updated 2012/02/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It has long been thought that the presence of a giant planet is a pre-requisite for the development of life on potentially habitable planets. Without Jupiter, it was argued, the Earth would have been subject to a punishing impact regime, which would have significantly retarded or outright prevented the development of life on our planet. Although this idea is widely embraced, little research has previously been carried out to support it. Here, we present the results of several suites of dynamical integrations used to model the influence of Jupiter's mass and orbit on the impact rate that would be experienced by the Earth. We find that, far from being a simple shield, Jupiter's role in determining the terrestrial impact flux is significantly more complicated than previously thought. Far from being a simple friend, such giant planets are perhaps more likely to imperil the development of life on otherwise habitable planets.