Quote:
Originally Posted by banquo's_bumble_puppy
Is there a pattern to how our solar system is laid out? You have Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars closest to the sun, all rocky planets and then you have Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Neptune. Does this have something to do with Bodes' Law? Why aren't the rocky planets mixed in with the gas giants?
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The rocky planets vs. gas giants situation is due to differing distances from the Sun and the resultant temperature differences. At cooler temperatures gasses have lower kinetic energy and are less likely to escape a planet's gravitational field. Also, at greater distances from the Sun gasses are less likely to be blown away by the solar wind.
Bode’s Law was flawed right at its basis. It proposed that the set (0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96) is part of a doubling sequence. It is not. The initial value would have to be 1.5 to create a proper doubling sequence. The initial zero used to include Mercury in the “law” was a fudge factor that is frequently overlooked. Later, Neptune proved to deviate from the so-called law.