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DeafnotDeath t1_j7v9xhk wrote

Reply to comment by Senrakdaemon in What's the importance of our solar system having so many moons? by [deleted]

Yes, it’s Jupiter. Earth would probably be uninhabitable if not for Jupiter sucking up enormous amounts of asteroids away from us

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floatingsaltmine t1_j7vfm3c wrote

That theory has been debunked. Jupiter hurls as many asteroid into the inner solar system as it pulls them in to crash into Jupiter or flings them out of the solar system entirely. It's a zero sum game for Earth.

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blaster151 t1_j7vr0cb wrote

Is there a source for this debunking?

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floatingsaltmine t1_j7w0s4d wrote

https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/does-jupiter-really-protect-us-from-cosmic-impacts/

Granted it's not the most sophisticated article and it seems to be behind a paywall. I learned about it in a Crash Course Astronomy episode about the Jovian Moons on Youtube.

This article here found that there would have been significantly fewer impacts on Earth without a Jupiter-mass planet, but several times more if Jupiter had the mass of Saturn. It also depends on the class of bodies (asteroids, short-period comets, long-period comets): https://spaceaustralia.com/feature/jupiters-complicated-relationship-life-earth

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