JBHuskers
09-20-2010, 01:18 PM
Best news story title ever????? :D
http://gizmodo.com/5641776/jupiter-and-saturn-played-pong-with-uranus
New simulations suggest that Jupiter and Saturn may have played a bit of planet Pong with Uranus. That is, Uranus got in Saturn's orbit so it was tossed to Jupiter's orbit and then tossed back and forth until it finally settled.
The back and forth game of planet Pong happened three times (and probably lasted 100,000 years) before Uranus was tossed outside of Saturn's orbit which it then settled in, peacefully. Tossing Uranus would have caused Jupiter and Saturn to recoil, shifting their orbits back as well. It's merely a theory but it's sorta fun to think that God (or the Universe or whomever) would bounce a planet around with other planets.
http://gizmodo.com/5641776/jupiter-and-saturn-played-pong-with-uranus
New simulations suggest that Jupiter and Saturn may have played a bit of planet Pong with Uranus. That is, Uranus got in Saturn's orbit so it was tossed to Jupiter's orbit and then tossed back and forth until it finally settled.
The back and forth game of planet Pong happened three times (and probably lasted 100,000 years) before Uranus was tossed outside of Saturn's orbit which it then settled in, peacefully. Tossing Uranus would have caused Jupiter and Saturn to recoil, shifting their orbits back as well. It's merely a theory but it's sorta fun to think that God (or the Universe or whomever) would bounce a planet around with other planets.