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Eccentricity varies primarily due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter and Saturn. The semi-major axis of the orbital ellipse, however, remains unchanged; according to perturbation theory , which computes the evolution of the orbit, the semi-major axis is invariant .
According to the IAU's explicit count, there are eight planets in the Solar System; four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and four giant planets, which can be divided further into two gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and two ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). When excluding the Sun, the four giant planets account for more than ...
Thus, the Sun occupies 0.00001% (1 part in 10 7) of the volume of a sphere with a radius the size of Earth's orbit, whereas Earth's volume is roughly 1 millionth (10 −6) that of the Sun. Jupiter, the largest planet, is 5.2 AU from the Sun and has a radius of 71,000 km (0.00047 AU; 44,000 mi), whereas the most distant planet, Neptune, is 30 AU ...
Jupiter might have shaped the Solar System on its grand tack. In planetary astronomy, the grand tack hypothesis proposes that Jupiter formed at a distance of 3.5 AU from the Sun, then migrated inward to 1.5 AU, before reversing course due to capturing Saturn in an orbital resonance, eventually halting near its current orbit at 5.2 AU.
Entering a Hohmann transfer orbit from Earth to Jupiter from low Earth orbit requires a delta-v of 6.3 km/s, [170] which is comparable to the 9.7 km/s delta-v needed to reach low Earth orbit. [171] Gravity assists through planetary flybys can be used to reduce the energy required to reach Jupiter. [172]
A 2004 computer model by Alessandro Morbidelli of the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in Nice suggested the formation of a 1:2 resonance between Jupiter and Saturn due to interactions with planetesimals that caused them to migrate inward and outward, respectively. In the model, this created a gravitational push that propelled both Uranus and ...
Precessional movement of Earth. Earth rotates (white arrows) once a day around its rotational axis (red); this axis itself rotates slowly (white circle), completing a rotation in approximately 26,000 years [1] In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational ...
At one point, the two may fall into sync, at which time Jupiter's constant gravitational tugs could accumulate and pull Mercury off course, with 1–2% probability, 3–4 billion years into the future. This could eject it from the Solar System altogether [1] or send it on a collision course with Venus, the Sun, or Earth. [11]