What is the age difference between Jupiter & Earth?
Which planet was formed first, or were they formed at the same time?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
7
-
1$\begingroup$ They were formed roughly around the same time, when the solar-system formed. It's possible Jupiter formed first, which resulted in it's greater mass, but it's very difficult to run the models backwards and make accurate predictions. It's thought to take a few million years for planets to form. galacticinteractions.scientopia.org/2010/01/05/… askanastronomer.org/planets/2015/10/25/forming-planets $\endgroup$– userLTKJun 13, 2016 at 11:33
-
$\begingroup$ Apart from @userLTKs answer “at the same time”, I don't think we (as in, humans in general) have any way of reliably answering this question at this time. $\endgroup$– gerritJun 13, 2016 at 12:33
-
1$\begingroup$ @userLTK speculation and total reliance on models is not required here. The Earth formed over a considerably longer timescale than Jupiter. $\endgroup$– ProfRobJun 13, 2016 at 18:28
-
$\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is extremely available information and will not benefit anyone. $\endgroup$– Sir CumferenceJun 13, 2016 at 19:58
-
$\begingroup$ @userLTK Please don't post answers in the comments. $\endgroup$– robJun 17, 2016 at 2:14
|
Show 2 more comments
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
It is generally thought that Jupiter "formed" first via the core accretion process. An icy core forms first and then sweeps up the gas around it. This process is generally thought to take from a few million to ten million years. After that, the solar system gas was dissipated and Jupiter was basically as it is today, but larger and hotter.
Earth formed on a longer timescale in the maelstrom of rocky planetesimals that made up the inner solar system. An essential part of the process was the collision that formed the moon, which probably occurred between 30 and 60 million years after the protosun began to form. Further heavy bombardment of the Earth that may have significantly changed its surface and atmosphere continued for some tens of millions of years after that.
The wikipedia page on planet formation in the solar system looks ok to me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_evolution_of_the_Solar_System I may add some more academic references subsequently.
