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Astronomy/Neptune
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Question
What would happen or could of happened to life on earth had the planet neptune never existed in our solar system?
Hello,
I don't think anything would have happened. We'd just have a solar system with eight planets (depending on whether you still regard Pluto as qualifying, I do), and not nine. Neptune is a large gas giant planet but I can't see that its absence ab initio would have had any consequences whatsoever to the evolution of life on Earth.
Certainly nothing negative.
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Answers by Expert:
Philip Stahl
Expertise
I have forty years of experience in Astronomy, specifically solar and space physics. My specialties include the physics of solar flares, sunspots, including their effects on Earth and statistics as applied to astronomical investigations.
Experience
Astronomy: more than forty years experience starting with construction of my own simple telescopes. Worked at university observatory in college, doing astrographic measurements. M.Phil. degree in Physics/Solar Physics and more than ten years as researcher.
Organizations
American Astronomical Society (Solar Physics and Dynamical Astronomy divisions), American Mathematical Society, American Geophysical Union
Publications
Solar Physics (journal), The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, The Proceedings of the Meudon Solar Flare Workshop (1986), The Proceedings of the Caribbean Physics Conference (1985). Books: 'Selected Analyses in Solar Flare Plasma Dynamics', 'Physics Notes for Advanced Level'.
Education/Credentials
B.A. Astronomy, M. Phil. Physics
Awards and Honors
American Astronomical Society Studentship Award (1984), Barbados Government Award for Solar Research
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