Scientists have proposed that a massive interstellar visitor, possibly eight times the mass of Jupiter, may have dramatically altered the orbits of our solar system’s planets. According to research published in the arXiv preprint database, this cosmic object passed close to Mars’ orbit around 4 billion years ago, affecting the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The researchers ran extensive simulations, analyzing over 50,000 scenarios that spanned 20 million years each. Their findings suggest that in about 1% of cases, the visitor’s gravity could have reshaped the planets’ orbits to match what we observe today.
The object is estimated to have come within 1.69 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun, just beyond Mars’ current orbit. This proximity would have allowed its gravity to nudge the planets into new paths.
The study challenges previous theories that planetary interactions within our solar system reshaped the orbits. Instead, it proposes that a single event could explain the moderate eccentricities and inclinations observed in the planets.
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/science/alien-cosmic-visitor-might-have-completely-rearranged-our-solar-system-study-finds-7513513