Jupiter barrier

The Jupiter barrier is the name for a region of the Solar System characterized by the gravitational influence of Jupiter on passing interstellar and in-system objects. Specifically, it is the region where these objects (which include asteroids and comets) are attracted to Jupiter and are either captured in its orbit or destroyed through impacting the planet. Because of this barrier, Jupiter has been nicknamed the Solar System's "cosmic vacuum cleaner" by astronomers, who have also speculated that the barrier reduces the likelihood of such objects from reaching the inner Solar System with potentially fatal consequences on the smaller planets in the inner Solar System such as nearly, if not completely, destroying all life on Earth.

References

• Mikhail Yakovlevich Marov, Hans Rickman (eds.): Collisional Processes in the Solar System. Springer 2001, ISBN 0792369467, pp. 80–82
• Julio A. Fernandez: Comets: Nature, Dynamics, Origin, and their Cosmogonical Relevance. Springer, 2006, ISBN 9781402034954, pp. 136–138
• Harold F. Levison, Luke Dones, Martin J. Duncan: : The Origin Of Halley-Type Comets: Probing The Inner Oort Cloud
• Luke Dones, Paul R. Weissmann, Harold F. Levison, Michael J. Duncan: Oort Cloud Formation and Dynamics