1202.1314 (J. Horner et al.)
J. Horner, B. W. Jones
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.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.1314
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