Expert: Ed - 10/12/2008

Question
I found out that if Jupiter had a more eccentric orbit that most of the other planets would have been flung out of the solar system, which planets would still be here if this were the case?

Answer
James,

It would depend upon exactly how much Jupiter's orbit would be changed, in this hypothetical parallel universe that you are describing.  However, the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) would be in the most trouble.  If Jupiter regularly swept through the inner solar system, probably none of these planets would have been able to maintain stability.  We would have been driven fron the solar system, or possibly thrust into the sun, long ago.

The planets which would be least threatened by any major change in Jupiter's orbit would be the largest ones, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Keep Looking Up!
--Ed