Scientists Date Jupiter's Birth Using Meteorite Droplets

Molten droplets in meteorites help date Jupiter’s planetary birth

The immense gravitational forces of a rapidly forming Jupiter were responsible for creating these "molten rock droplets."

Chondrule formation by collisions of planetesimals containing volatiles triggered by Jupiter’s formation - Scientific Reports

Chondrules are spherical or subspherical particles of crystallized or partially crystallized liquid silicates that constitute large-volume fractions of most chondritic meteorites. Chondrules typically range $$0.1-2\,$$ mm in size and solidified with cooling rates of $$10-1000\,\mathrm{K\,h^{-1}}$$ , yet these characteristics prove difficult to reconcile with proposed formation models. We numerically show that collisions among planetesimals conta…

Scientists date the origin of Jupiter by studying the formation of “molten rock raindrops”

Four and a half billion years ago Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, called planetesimals. This caused them to smash into each other at such high speeds that the rocks and dust they contained melted on impact and created floating molten rock droplets, or chondrules, that we find preserved in meteorites today. Now…

Molten rock raindrops help trace the history of Jupiter's formation

Four and a half billion years ago, Jupiter rapidly grew to its massive size. Its powerful gravitational pull disrupted the orbits of small rocky and icy bodies similar to modern asteroids and comets, called planetesimals. This caused them to smash into each other at such high speeds that the rocks and dust they contained melted on impact and created floating molten rock droplets, or chondrules, that we find preserved in meteorites today.

New research undermines hypothesis on mystery behind Jupiter's unusual core

Scientists from Durham University in the UK, along with experts from NASA, SETI, and the University of Oslo, have challenged the long-standing theory that Jupiter’s...

Research Reveals How Chondrules Formed and Sheds Light on Jupiter's Birth in the Early Solar System

Researchers from Nagoya University and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) have made significant strides in understanding the formation of