The Jupiter barrier is a region of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

characterized by the gravitational influence of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

on passing interstellar and in-system objects. Specifically, it is the region where these objects (which include

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

and

comets A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

) 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 The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

with potentially fatal consequences on the smaller planets in the inner Solar System such as

nearly Proximity may refer to: * Distance, a numerical description of how far apart objects are * Proxemics, the study of human spatial requirements and the effects of population density * ''Proximity'' (2000 film), an action/thriller film * ''Proximit ...

, if not completely, destroying all life on Earth.

References

* Mikhail Yakovlevich Marov, Hans Rickman (eds.): ''Collisional Processes in the Solar System''. Springer 2001, , pp
80–82
* Julio A. Fernandez: ''Comets: Nature, Dynamics, Origin, and their Cosmogonical Relevance''. Springer, 2006, , pp
136–138
* Harold F. Levison, Luke Dones, Martin J. Duncan:

* Luke Dones, Paul R. Weissmann, Harold F. Levison, Michael J. Duncan
''Oort Cloud Formation and Dynamics''
Dynamics of the Solar System {{astronomy-stub