1st evidence of giant exoplanet collision afterglow explains unusual eclipse

[Admin]

Astronomers have observed two super-Earths colliding in a faraway system for the first time, suggesting such violent impacts are not limited to very young cosmic neighborhoods.

1st evidence of giant exoplanet collision afterglow explains unusual eclipse : Read more

 

[Unclear Engineer]

As we learn more about our Asteroid Belt objects and also see large planetary collisions in other exosolar systems, it seems to me that we should be developing a picture of the evolution of our own solar system that involves a collision of large planets to create our asteroid belt. The previously popular theory that the asteroids are "leftovers" from planet formation that could not coalesce into a planet because of disruptions in their orbits by Jupiter's strong gravity seems inconsistent with the thinking about the content of Psyche and the apparent coalescence of Ceres and other spherical asteroids.

When would this probably have occurred? What effects did it have on the evolution of Earth? Was "Theia" a fragment of this larger collision? Etc.?