30-Year Stellar Survey Cracks Mysteries of Galaxy's Giant Planets

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30-year stellar survey cracks mysteries of galaxy's giant planets:

Current and former astronomers from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) have wrapped up a massive collaborative study that set out to determine if most solar systems in the universe are similar to our own. With the help of W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea in Hawaii, the 30-year planetary census sought to find where giant planets tend to reside relative to their host stars.

In our solar system, the giant planets-Jupiter and Saturn-are found in the chilly outer regions, while smaller planets tend to orbit closer to the Sun. Earth lives in an intermediate tropical zone well-suited to life, at a distance of 1 AU (astronomical unit) from the Sun. Jupiter is about 5 AU from the Sun, and Saturn is at 9 AU. An AU, the distance from the Earth to our Sun, is about 93 million miles.

"Dynamically speaking, Jupiter and Saturn are the VIPs-Very Important Planets-of the solar system," said IfA Parrent Postdoctoral Fellow Lauren Weiss. "They are thought to have shaped the assembly of the terrestrial planets, potentially stunting the growth of Mars and slingshotting water-bearing comets toward Earth."

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