Do Missing Jupiters Mean Massive Comet Belts?

[DavidDvorkin]

Using ESA's Herschel space observatory, astronomers have discovered vast comet belts surrounding two nearby planetary systems known to host only Earth-to-Neptune-mass worlds. The comet reservoirs could have delivered life-giving oceans to the innermost planets.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121127111245.htm


Astronomy was always exciting, but it just keeps getting more so.

[longship]

1. Good news, and bad news.

The good news:

The comet reservoirs could have delivered life-giving oceans to the innermost planets.

The bad news: They keep coming into the inner solar system, striking the planets there because there's no freaking Jupiter-sized gas giant to shepherd the comets away from the inner planets.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Good point

Maybe there's life on the inner planets there, and it's remarkably adaptable.

[JackRiddler]

3. Presumably.

Perhaps also they originated by having another system brush by at some point tens of millions of years ago, breaking up larger planets into a comet belt.