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3mo ago

Study Reveals Jupiter’s Early Size and Magnetic Power

New research confirms Jupiter was twice its current size with a magnetic field 50 times stronger just 3.8 million years after the Solar System began forming.

The view shows Jupiter, including its Great red Spot, as captured in 2018 by NASA's Juno spacecraft.
A close up jupiter planet of the solar system
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, was 2 to 2.5 times bigger in its earlier life, according to new research.
Image

Overview

  • Researchers reconstructed Jupiter's primordial state using orbital data from its small moons Amalthea and Thebe.
  • About 3.8 million years after the first Solar System solids formed, Jupiter was 2–2.5 times its current size and had a magnetic field 50 times stronger than today.
  • The findings provide direct evidence supporting the core accretion theory, showing how a rocky core rapidly gathered gas to form giant planets.
  • Despite 4.5 billion years of evolution, subtle orbital clues allowed scientists to trace Jupiter's early physical state and contraction over time.
  • Jupiter continues to shrink by about two centimeters per year as it cools and loses energy, reflecting its ongoing thermal evolution.