article_snippet: And now we might know why - because Jupiter acted like a ‘wrecking ball’ in the early solar system and knocked planets out of the solar system or into position.
article_snippet: University of California scientists say early in the solar system , Jupiter swung through the inner planets (illustration of early solar system shown).
article_snippet: Namely, Jupiter may have helped Earth form in a habitable part of the solar system.
article_snippet: And Jupiter also possibly played a part in Earth's size, ensuring Jupiter was not too big or small to host water and life.
article_snippet: Computer models of the solar system showed the migration of Jupiter may have shepherded small early planets - initiating a ‘collisional cascade’ in the solar system.
article_snippet: As Jupiter moved inward, gravitational perturbations from the giant planet would have swept the inner planets and large space rocks into close-knit overlapping orbits - setting off a series of collisions that smashed all the planets into pieces.
article_snippet: ‘Our work indicates that Jupiter would have created just such a collisional cascade in the solar system.
article_snippet: As Jupiter (pictured from the Cassini spacecraft on 8 October 2000) moved inward in the early solar system, gravitational perturbations from the giant planet would have swept the inner planets and large space rocks into close-knit overlapping orbits - setting off a series of collisions that smashed all the planets into pieces .
article_snippet: Ultimately, Jupiter's interaction with the inner solar system billions of years ago may have given rise to the solar system we know today (illustrated) - and also the conditions necessary for life on Earth, namely a habitable distance from the sun and a suitably-sized world .
article_snippet: According to Professor Laughlin, the formation of giant planets like Jupiter is somewhat rare, but when the formation of giant planets like Jupiter occurs the giant planet usually migrates inward and ends up at an orbital distance similar to Earth’s.
article_snippet: Only the formation of Saturn in our own solar system pulled Jupiter back out and allowed Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars to form.
highlights_snippet: They say early in University of California life, Jupiter swung through the inner planets .
  