These doughnut - shaped objects might even explain the formation
of other terrestrial planets like Mars, Venus, and many more outside our solar system.
Other terrestrial planets orbiting other stars should behave similarly, although the transition point between climate states may differ for stars that are brighter and dimmer than the sun.
«Since the solar nebula lifetime critically affects the final positions of Jupiter and Saturn, it also affects the later formation of the Earth, our home, as well as the formation
of other terrestrial planets.»
«These chips off the old blocks could have contributed significantly to the impact record we see on the Moon and
other terrestrial planets,» Schultz said.
«How could Earth have been subject to such a bombardment while
the other terrestrial planets were somehow immune?»
Earth, like
the other terrestrial planets, consists of about one - third iron core by mass; its outer two - thirds is made of a lighter, nonmetallic shell of silicates.
The interior of the Earth, like that of
the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers.
Because the chemistry is so similar, such planets are more likely to have similar minerals and rocks to Earth and
the other terrestrial planets of the solar system.
Earth and
the other terrestrial planets, by contrast, have cores more like the pit of a peach — giving them a lower density overall.
First to attract geologists» attention were our Moon and
the other terrestrial planets — Mercury, Venus and Mars.
Simulating the assembly of the solar system around 4.56 billion years ago, researchers propose that the Red Planet didn't form in the inner solar system alongside
the other terrestrial planets as previously thought.
Based on the standard models that simulate carbon reactions in the solar nebula where the sun and planets originated, Earth and
the other terrestrial planets should have up to 100 times more carbon,» states Prof. Gail.
Like
the other terrestrial planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) Mercury is made mostly of rock and metal.
Moreover, iron has not been detected on the surface, and so given its presumably large iron core, Mercury may be much more thoroughly differentiated than
the other terrestrial planets.
Even more importantly, the composition and role of icy planetesimals, or small proto - planets, in planetary formation hangs in the balance — and with them, the origin of Earth and
other terrestrial planets.