Speculations on Jupiter going down and going up again

[frankglennjacobs@gmail.com]

These speculations are only speculations. They are not theories nor even hypotheses. They hardly rise to the level of a SWEG. (Scientific Wild-Eyed Guess) I am like Alice, lost in Wonderland, asking the Cheshire Cat which way to go.

 

SPECULATION ONE: Familiar old Jupiter is orbiting right where it has always been orbiting since it was formed from dust and gas from the protoplanetary disk. A real home-boy, Old Jove! It migrated from about where Saturn is now. The protoplanetary disk was dissipated by then and Jupiter stayed put.

 

SPECULATION TWO: Jupiter was somehow formed right downstairs in the blazing heat next to the sun in a six-day orbit. (Some newly-discovered exo-Hot-Jupiters are found orbiting way close to their stars. This doesn't make sense, but there it is.) Just as the moon rises about an inch a year above the earth, Jupiter rose to its present position by raising a tidal bulge on the surface of the sun which converted some of the angular momentum of the sun into orbital energy for Jupiter.

 

SPECULATION THREE: Back to forming Jupiter way up there where it makes sense for a gas-giant to form. At the same time, the protoplanetary disk was really thick with all sorts of stuff, from hydrogen molecules to planetoids. This formed a drag on Jupiter (and everything else) so that Jupiter lost energy to the gravitational pull of untold items, and lost Semi-Major Axis length to its orbit until it became like one of the now-famous exo-Hot-Jupiters -- right down on the deck -- until it was absorbed by the sun. The Jupiter we see in the sky now was next in line for the title, and there it is to this day.

 

SPECULATION FOUR: Same as SPECULATION THREE, except Jupiter did not fall into the sun. About that time the protoplanetary disk was nearly gone. The stellar wind blew the faint pitiful remnants of it out beyond the Oort Cloud. Jupiter rose by tidal action as in SPECULATION TWO until it came to its present position, where, for all I know, it is still rising.

 

SPECULATION FIVE: In SPECULATIONS ONE thru FOUR, Jupiter gained a lot of weight. Most everything it came close to fell into it. Plop! Just as we saw that comet fall into it about a generation ago. Plop! Plop! Plop! And, in SPECULATIONS TWO thru FOUR, Jupiter came close to any number of planetessimals, planetoids and even mature planets, and mostly swallowed them whole. It came close -- but not THAT close -- to Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and to an un-named planet that used to roll beyond Mars.

 

[Mercury lost its mantle. Venus lost its rotation. Earth lost its atmosphere, ocean -- and a few tectonic plates, some of which stayed in orbit forming the moon. Mars was totally wrecked and never recovered. The un-named planet was swallowed up by Jupiter except for a tiny remnant which we call asteroids.]

 

SPECULATION SIX: SPECULATIONS ONE thru FIVE are pure baloney, spun out of fantasy and Flash Gordon funny-paper adventures. They are for your amusement only, and are not to be printed in the next edition of your Science Text.

[Raider5678]

These speculations are only speculations. They are not theories nor even hypotheses. They hardly rise to the level of a SWEG. (Scientific Wild-Eyed Guess) I am like Alice, lost in Wonderland, asking the Cheshire Cat which way to go.

 

SPECULATION ONE: Familiar old Jupiter is orbiting right where it has always been orbiting since it was formed from dust and gas from the protoplanetary disk. A real home-boy, Old Jove! It migrated from about where Saturn is now. The protoplanetary disk was dissipated by then and Jupiter stayed put.

 

SPECULATION TWO: Jupiter was somehow formed right downstairs in the blazing heat next to the sun in a six-day orbit. (Some newly-discovered exo-Hot-Jupiters are found orbiting way close to their stars. This doesn't make sense, but there it is.) Just as the moon rises about an inch a year above the earth, Jupiter rose to its present position by raising a tidal bulge on the surface of the sun which converted some of the angular momentum of the sun into orbital energy for Jupiter.

 

SPECULATION THREE: Back to forming Jupiter way up there where it makes sense for a gas-giant to form. At the same time, the protoplanetary disk was really thick with all sorts of stuff, from hydrogen molecules to planetoids. This formed a drag on Jupiter (and everything else) so that Jupiter lost energy to the gravitational pull of untold items, and lost Semi-Major Axis length to its orbit until it became like one of the now-famous exo-Hot-Jupiters -- right down on the deck -- until it was absorbed by the sun. The Jupiter we see in the sky now was next in line for the title, and there it is to this day.

 

SPECULATION FOUR: Same as SPECULATION THREE, except Jupiter did not fall into the sun. About that time the protoplanetary disk was nearly gone. The stellar wind blew the faint pitiful remnants of it out beyond the Oort Cloud. Jupiter rose by tidal action as in SPECULATION TWO until it came to its present position, where, for all I know, it is still rising.

 

SPECULATION FIVE: In SPECULATIONS ONE thru FOUR, Jupiter gained a lot of weight. Most everything it came close to fell into it. Plop! Just as we saw that comet fall into it about a generation ago. Plop! Plop! Plop! And, in SPECULATIONS TWO thru FOUR, Jupiter came close to any number of planetessimals, planetoids and even mature planets, and mostly swallowed them whole. It came close -- but not THAT close -- to Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and to an un-named planet that used to roll beyond Mars.

 

[Mercury lost its mantle. Venus lost its rotation. Earth lost its atmosphere, ocean -- and a few tectonic plates, some of which stayed in orbit forming the moon. Mars was totally wrecked and never recovered. The un-named planet was swallowed up by Jupiter except for a tiny remnant which we call asteroids.]

 

SPECULATION SIX: SPECULATIONS ONE thru FIVE are pure baloney, spun out of fantasy and Flash Gordon funny-paper adventures. They are for your amusement only, and are not to be printed in the next edition of your Science Text.

Okay then.