The Sun once had Saturn-like rings and this prevented the Earth from being a “super-Earth.”

The Sun once had Saturn-like rings and this prevented the Earth from being a “super-Earth.”

What if our planet today was a giant Earth twice its current size and 10 times more massive? Everything will be incredibly different. And it is not thanks to the rings that the infant had, which prevented the Earth from developing in this direction.

according to NASA, 30% of the Sun-like stars in our galaxy orbit the super-Earth.


The sun of children will have rings like Saturn

Technology combined with optimizing data collected in the universe allows you to create scenarios of what the Earth and the Sun would be like in childhood. As such, Andrei Isidoro, astrophysicist at Rice University in Houston, notes that the occurrence of super-Earths in many other solar systems has left astronomers with some unanswered questions.

To know the research team Create a simulation model From the formation of the solar system, which emerged from the ashes when a cloud between dust and gas collapsed, known as the solar nebula.

Their simulations suggested that pressure 'bumps', or areas of high pressure for gas and dust, would have surrounded the infant sun. It is likely that these areas of high pressure are the result of particles drifting towards the Sun under the influence of its strong gravity, heating it and releasing large amounts of vaporized gas.

The simulations showed that there are likely three distinct regions where solid particles in the gas have evaporated, called "sublimation lines". In the line closest to the Sun, or in the hottest region, the solid silicate turns into a gas; In the middle line, the ice may be heated enough to turn into gas; And on the farthest line, carbon monoxide has turned into a gas.

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sun illustration for kids

According to the simulations, solid particles, such as dust, bumped into these bulges and began to accumulate.

The effect of the pressure bump is that it captures dust particles, which is why we see the rings.

Co-author Andrea Isella, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, explained.

If these pressure bumps were not present, the Sun would have quickly devoured the particles, leaving no seeds for the planets to grow.

Our star matured, lost the dust that surrounded it, and created planets

With age, the gas and dust surrounding the Sun cooled and sublimation lines moved closer to the Sun. This process allowed dust to accumulate in planets, or the seeds of asteroid-sized planets, which can later coalesce to form planets.

Our model shows that pressure shocks can concentrate dust, and moving pressure shocks can act as planetary plants.

Increased pressure regulates the amount of material available to form planets in the inner solar system.

Isidoro said in a statement.

According to simulations, the closest ring to the star formed the planets of the inner solar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The middle ring would eventually become the planets of the outer solar system, while the outer ring formed comets, asteroids, and other small objects in the Kuiper Belt, the region outside of Neptune's orbit.

The researchers found that if they simulated the late formation of the middle ring, it is possible that super-terrestrial planets may have formed in the solar system.

By Chris Skeldon

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