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Elohachus t1_j1ouspy wrote

If you look up Hot Jupiters and Planetary Migration, it’s possible our system is a rarity, in that there are multiple observed cases of gas giants of extremely short orbital periods and proximity to their parent stars, which is suspected to be due to an inward migration. We’re lucky Jupiter hasn’t done the same and swallowed up the terrestrial planets. It’s position also protects us from many potential incoming meteorites.

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bostondana2 t1_j1p3ekb wrote

Technically it protects us from meteors. A meteorite is only once it's landed on the Earth.

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mentive t1_j1p82lz wrote

Perhaps those have just been easier to detect, for obvious reasons.

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