Our solar system in the galaxy is rare

When people search farther in the universe, discover more planets other than the sun, many people wonder how unique our solar system is. Astronauts on the "planet hunt" trip often say that it is only a matter of time before discovering worlds like Earth.

But a new study suggests that our solar system is actually very rare.

A team of astronomers studied sun-like stars in Orion's open constellation nebula, and found that less than 10% of stars have enough dust around them to form a Jupiter-sized planet.

Researcher Joshua Eisner, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'We think that most stars in the galaxy are formed in crowded constellations like the Orion constellation. So this means that our solar system is like the exception, not the rule. '

This is important because giant planets like Jupiter may become a means of supporting life on a rocky planet like Earth.

Eisner and his team observed about 250 stars of the million-year-old Orion Nebula in search of dense dust clouds around stars that could become planets. They found that only about 10% of stars release radi with frequency indicating that they have warm dust of the original planet. Only 8% of the stars surveyed have dust greater than 1/100 of the mass of the sun - the mass is considered to be a low limit to be able to form the planet of Jupiter.

The solar system seems like an exception, not a rule.(Photo: usm.maine.edu)

The results seem to fit well with what planet hunters have found so far when they applied long velocity research to detect extrasolar planets around other stars. The long velocity method is associated with the search for a period of fluctuation in the activity of a star due to the light gravitational pull from an orbiting planet.

In response to SPACE.com, Eisner said: 'The current figure shows that only 6 to 10% of stars have planets the size of Jupiter. This data fits perfectly with our findings'.

The researchers will publish the results on the August 10 issue in the Astrophysical Journal.

Snapshots

However, it is still too early to be disappointed with the search for space full of Saturn around the sun.

Because the survey is focused on the dust around the stars and does not detect any newly formed planets, it is possible that some sun-like stars have their planets.

John M. Carpenter - an astronomer at Caltech who collaborated with Eisner in research with the constellation Orion - said: 'Perhaps we'll just be looking for planets that don't form planets. And maybe some other stars have already formed planets. This is just a snapshot, and when we look at other constellations at different ages, we get a more complete picture. '

Orion Nebula.(Photo: astronomycast)

Scientists agree that there are many unanswered questions about solar systems in the universe beyond our solar system.

Harvard planet hunter David Charbonneau is not involved in the Orion study, saying: 'As accuracy improves, we will find more planets. The occurrence rate has increased since the time we started searching. '

According to him, it is still too early to say for sure whether the world of Earth is an exception, but studies focus on whether other stars have the raw materials needed to form the surface system. Heaven is like ours also very useful.

'It is an essential step to know the stars with enough materials to create the planet.'

Rare life?

If it is true that sun-like stars with Jupiter-like planets are rare, it is possible that extraterrestrial life is also rare.

Some scientists have suggested that our Jupiter is the means to help shape life on Earth. The first reason is that large planets can protect the small inner planets from strong attacks from meteorites, not letting them crash into any of the buds of life opening up.

Besides, large planets can push comets and small planets out of their orbit, directing them to smaller earth planets. Meteors can be systems for distributing organic materials and water to small planets.

Eisner said: 'Without Jupiter, it is difficult to get a wet planet.'