Jupiter Collision

Scientists on Wednesday said dust spawned by a gigantic collision in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter 400 million years earlier triggered an ice age on Earth that ushered in a significant increase in marine biodiversity.

A colossal, head-on collision between Jupiter and a still-forming planet in the early solar system, about 4.5 billion years ago, has left Jupiter's core less dense and more extended that expected, say researchers.

Scientists on Wednesday said dust spawned by a gigantic collision in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter 400 million years earlier triggered an ice age on Earth that ushered in a significant increase in marine biodiversity.

A colossal, head-on collision between Jupiter and a still-forming planet in the early solar system, about 4.5 billion years ago, has left Jupiter's core less dense and more extended that expected, say researchers.