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Broken resonance chain: Why are the five giant planets unstable?
As research on the formation and development of the solar system continues to deepen, the dynamic evolution of the five giant planets has brought new challenges to scientists. The latest five-planet Nice model provides a critical look at how these planets can cause instability during their early formation. This model successfully explains the current planetary orbits and their peculiar composition.
Overview of the five-planet Nice model
The five-planet Nice model is based on numerical simulations of the early solar system and covers the four existing giant planets and an ice giant between Saturn and Uranus. The homogeneous resonance chain formed between the planets was initially stable, but as the chain broke, the gravitational interaction between the planets produced significant dynamic changes.
Models show that over a period of a billion years, these five planets began to migrate driven by small celestial bodies, eventually leading to great orbital instability.
Causes of instability
Under the framework of the five-planet Nice model, the giant planets of the solar system existed in a resonance manner in the early days, and these continuous gravitational interactions promoted the movement and changes between them. According to the simulation results, these five planets entered several important resonance chains the fastest after their formation. The destabilization of these resonances resulted in significant dynamic changes - gravitational interactions between the planets made some planets' orbits unstable. Eventually, an ice giant planet was expelled from the solar system.
Dynamic changes in the solar system
When the resonance chain of the five planets breaks, the movement of the planets becomes more and more unstable. This process is a complex dynamic system. Simulations show that contacts and interactions between these planets generate multiple motion patterns that lead to subsequent migrations and impact events. These interactions not only contributed to changes in the position of the planets, but also affected the outer rings of small celestial bodies, and even caused changes in the internal structure of the solar system.
Collision and impact between planets
Due to the gravitational pull between the planets, the movement of the planets causes small celestial bodies to be activated and enter orbits that cross the planets. This causes these small celestial bodies to have an impact on their satellites and planetary surfaces, leaving craters and impact basins.
Under certain circumstances, the gravitational interaction of these planets can cause groups of small celestial bodies to be captured unprepared, forming Jupiter's Trojan asteroid group. This process highlights the complexity of planetary dynamics and interactions with small bodies, and even affects the satellites of other planets, including the origin of their irregular satellites.
The relationship between structure and formation
There are many theories that offer different perspectives on the formation of the solar system and its final appearance. Research on the five-planet Nice model shows that the giant planets in the solar system were not originally located at their current locations, and the formation process must involve complex dynamic interactions. Proponents of this model believe that the earliest stages of the solar system were exceptionally compact, and that over time the planets underwent downward scissor migration to reach their current spatial arrangement.
Future exploration directions
With the advancement of science and technology, the study of frozen ancient planets is becoming a cutting-edge issue in the astronomical community. Analyzing the formation of the solar system is critical to our understanding of the evolution of other planetary systems. The five-planet Nice model not only provides a deep understanding of its own system, but also provides a valuable perspective for exploring other star systems.
The constantly revised and updated Cosmological model provides clues to our understanding of today's universe, but these complex systems continue to arouse our curiosity for exploration. Can they really accurately explain the entire solar system?
