What is a super-earth? It is an exoplanet, that is to say a planet located outside our solar system, the mass of which is greater than that of the earth, but lower than that of a gauge giant like Neptune. Scientists from Florida Institute of Technology have simulated the deep consequences that the appearance of such a planet between Mars and Jupiter.
Their work was published in the January edition magazine Icarusand perfectly show us how this theoretical celestial body would completely upset our solar system. Until our beautiful planet uninhabitable under certain conditions.
Disturbance of orbital balance
The appearance of a super-terre in the region currently occupied by the asteroid belt would cause gravitational disturbances whose magnitude would depend directly on its mass. Digital simulations, carried out over a period of two million years, revealed two distinct scenarios with radically different consequences For our solar system.
In the first case, with a moderate mass planet – once and twice that of the earth – Disturbances would remain manageable. Our planet would experience modifications of his obliquity (the angle that his rotation axis does with a line perpendicular to his orbital plan), resulting in more pronounced seasonal variations. Winters would become more harsh and warmer summers, without compromising the fundamental conditions necessary for the maintenance of life. Terrestrial orbit would retain relative stability, allowing the preservation of essential climatic cycles.
The second scenario, involving a mass super terre ten times higher than our planet, is much more chaotic. The terrestrial orbit would undergo a major destabilization in the space of one to two million years. Our planet would be gradually pushed back from its current position, risking moving away from the habitable area where water can exist in the liquid state. Mars would see its axis of rotation undergoing drastic variations, completely overwhelming its climate dynamics. Venus would not escape these disturbances, its orbit becoming more elliptical, which would intensify its already considerable thermal extremes.
How a super-terre could make the land uninhabitable
The effects of such a disturbance would be cataclysmic and would have nothing to envy to the presence of a second moon, as we discussed in October. The destabilization of orbits would cause profound changes in terrestrial climatic cycles. The variations of distance between the earth and the sun would become more important, creating extreme thermal fluctuations.
The modification of the earthly obliquity would amplify these effects, seriously disturbing the seasons and the day-free cycles with direct consequences on ecosystems. Massive extinctions, rise in oceans, extreme weather events; In short, A real apocalypse.
The presence of a super-terre as massive as that imagined in the second scenario would also disturb the asteroid belt, potentially modifying the frequency of meteoritic impacts on internal planets. This reconfiguration could expose the earth to a Supported bombardment of celestial objectsadding an additional risk factor for the stability of the biosphere.
A complete reorganization of the solar system
Apart from these localized consequences, the gravitational interactions which currently govern our solar system would also be completely turned upside down. Our current understanding of these interactions is based on the existence of orbital resonances, configurations where the periods of revolution of the planets have simple digital relationships. For example, Neptune performs exactly three orbits while Pluto accomplishes two, creating a stable celestial choreography, maintained for millions of years.
The considerable mass of this super-terre would act cis a new intermediate center of severitymodifying the orbital speeds of the surrounding planets. The lighter and closer telluric planets would suffer the most important disturbances. Venus, the earth and Mars would see their orbits distorted by this new gravitational force, causing gigantic variations of their distance to the sun and their period of revolution.
Giant gasels, despite their removal and imposing mass, would not escape the phenomenon. Jupiter, the main gravitational force after the sun, would see its influence on the asteroid belt shared with the newcomer, creating areas of anarchic disturbance. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune would experience less visible modifications of their orbits, sufficient, however to gradually alter their interactions with the other bodies of the solar system.
Fortunately, all of this is only theoretical, and We will never assist in the occurrence of a super-terre in our celestial neighborhood. For what ? Because our solar system, 4.6 billion years old and had time to stabilize and cosmic events such as the arrival of a super-terre are considered extremely rare On the scale of the life of a star. No reason to be alarmed, but this simulation is nevertheless interesting for Take the limits of our understanding of the universe.
- The arrival of a massive super-terre between Mars and Jupiter would have deeply upset the orbits of the internal planets, making the land potentially unlivable.
- Gravitational disturbances would have caused extreme climate change, chaotic seasons and an increase in asteroid impacts.
- Fortunately, our solar system has been stable for billions of years, and such a scenario remains purely hypothetical.
