Do we owe our existence to Jupiter? That used to be the standard paradigm in planetary theory, but now theorists routinely debate the merits of such a gas giant planet parked out at a 12 year orbit in our own solar system. However, one thing is clear; solar systems like ours with Jupiter analogs are pretty scarce.
Solar systems like ours, in which Jupiter-like planets orbit their parent stars at Jupiter-like distances, remain scarce in the local stellar neighborhood, says an Australian-led team of astronomers.
The team who report their findings in The Astrophysical Journal, analyzed the latest results from an ongoing planet detection survey of more than 200 solar-type stars mostly within some 300 light years of Earth.