木星は過去に現在の2倍の大きさでより強力な磁場を持っていた(Jupiter Was Formerly Twice Its Current Size and Had a Much Stronger Magnetic Field)

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2025-05-20 カリフォルニア工科大学(Caltech)

カリフォルニア工科大学(Caltech)の研究チームは、木星が形成初期には現在の約2倍の半径を持ち、体積は地球約2,000個分に相当し、磁場強度も現在の約50倍であったことを明らかにしました。この研究では、木星の内側を公転する小衛星アマルテアとテーベのわずかな軌道傾斜を解析し、木星の初期サイズと磁場強度を推定しました。従来の惑星形成モデルが抱える不確実性を回避し、角運動量保存則と衛星の軌道力学に基づいて木星の形成直後の状態を再構築した点が特徴です。この成果は、巨大惑星の形成過程や太陽系の初期構造を理解する上で重要な手がかりとなります。

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木星の原始物理状態の決定 Determination of Jupiter’s primordial physical state

Konstantin Batygin & Fred C. Adams
Nature Astronomy  Published:20 May 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02512-y

木星は過去に現在の2倍の大きさでより強力な磁場を持っていた(Jupiter Was Formerly Twice Its Current Size and Had a Much Stronger Magnetic Field)

Abstract

The formation and early evolution of Jupiter played a pivotal role in sculpting the large-scale architecture of the Solar System, intertwining the narrative of Jovian early years with the broader story of the Solar System’s origins. The details and chronology of Jupiter’s formation, however, remain elusive, primarily due to the inherent uncertainties of accretionary models, highlighting the need for independent constraints. Here we show that, by analysing the dynamics of Jupiter’s satellites concurrently with its angular-momentum budget, we can infer Jupiter’s radius and interior state at the time of the protosolar nebula’s dissipation. In particular, our calculations reveal that Jupiter was 2 to 2.5 times as large as it is today, 3.8 Myr after the formation of the first solids in the Solar System. Our model further indicates that young Jupiter possessed a magnetic field of B ≈ 21 mT (a factor of ~ 50 higher than its present-day value) and was accreting material through a circum-Jovian disk at a rate of=1.2–2.4 M Myr−1. Our findings are fully consistent with the core-accretion theory of giant-planet formation and provide an evolutionary snapshot that pins down properties of the Jovian system at the end of the protosolar nebula’s lifetime.

1700応用理学一般
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