Shortly after the Solar System formed, astronomers think it went through what’s known as the Great Divide – a splitting up of the planets into two distinct groups. We weren’t around to experience this cosmic schism, but a new study has put forward an intriguing hypothesis on how it would have occurred.
Put simply, the Great Divide left our Solar System with the smaller terrestrial planets closest to the Sun (including Earth and Mars), and the larger gas giant – or ‘Jovian’ – planets farther out (including Jupiter and Saturn).
