12/28/2021
At 13:50 CET
Pablo Javier Piacente
According to new research, rock planets like Earth or Mars were formed from material in the inner Solar System. This is the area closest to Sun. This discovery contradicts current theories about the formation these stars.
A new study by a group of researchers led by the University of Münster, in Germany, has found that Earth and Mars were formed from material that largely originated in the Inner Solar System: Only a very small fraction of the building blocks of these planets were formed outside the orbit of Jupiter. Meteorites contain some of this primary material, which is practically unchanged today.
According to a press release from the University of California, the results of this study will change our understanding of the process that created all the rocky worlds. Mercury, Venus Earth, Mars and Earth. The theory that these stars grew to their current size by accumulating elements in the outer Solar System would not have any effect. Science Advances has published the results of new research by German scientists as well as astronomers from other countries.
How did the rocky worlds form?
The inner Solar System refers to the region that includes all four stars, the inner planets, and the outer solar system. Nearest to the Sunasteroids. The four inner planets of the Solar System (Mercury Venus Earth Mars, Venus Earth Earth Mars) are all terrestrials with dense and rocky structures. They are mostly composed of refractory minerals such as silicates and metals like iron and nickel which form their cores.
In the meantime, Outer solar systemIt is home to the gas giant planets and their terrible moons. There are also many comets. These stars (Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and Saturn) have a higher concentration of volatile substances than the inner Solar System’s rocky bodies that are closer to it.
It is well-known that the young Sun was surrounded by a disk of gas and dust 4.6 billion years ago. However, there are many different theories regarding the formation and evolution of the inner planets. Original disc.
The oldest theory holds that the Sun’s proximity caused the formation of agglomerations space dust. “Embryos & rdquor; planetariumsThey collided and formed the rocky worlds we now know.
Another theory, however, holds that the inner planets grew from tiny. Particles of cosmic dustComing from the outer Solar System, i.e. beyond Jupiter. These were gradually added to existing protoplanetary structures until four rocky stars were formed.
A nearby origin
The new study now confirms, via analysis of the meteorite composition, that the The Earth’s outer rock layers are Mars They have very little in common with materials from the outer Solar System. They only represent 4% of the original building blocks for both planets. All evidence suggests that this could be repeated in Mercury and Venus, the inner planets.
Scientists believe that if the early Earth and Mars had grown primarily through “grains & rdquor; of dust from the outer Solar System, the percentage of these elements should reach a 40% of its contents.
The specialists also identified elements from the Sun area that are still preserved by meteorites and were the original components of rocky planets. They also identified other components, which were also produced in inner Solar System but not preserved in meteorites.
The isotopic composition this third type building material suggests that it must have come from the Solar System’s innermost regions. This is because bodies so close by the Sun were almost never scattered within the asteroid belt. Practically completely absorbed into inner planetsIt is therefore not observed in meteorites.
Refer to
Formation of terrestrial planets using material from the lost inner solar system. Christoph Burkhardt, Fridolin Spitzer, Alessandro Morbidelli, Gerrit Budde, Jan. H. Render, Thomas S. Kruijer and Thorsten Kleine. Science Advances (2021). DOI: https: //doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj7601