Why might the presence of a giant planet be both good and bad for ...

[xclash]

Why might the presence of a giant planet be both good and bad for life on a terrestrial planet in another solar system?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

If the distance between us and a star is doubled, its apparent brightness will decrease by a factor of four.
 
  Indicate whether the statement is true or false

[pocatato]

Answer to Question 1

A giant planet can kick comets out of the inner solar system to an Oort-type cloud through gravitational encounters. This is good because it means that life on the inner planets can evolve without sterilizing giant impacts. A potential bad effect is that if a star does not blow away its surrounding disk of gas and dust soon enough, the giant planet may experience drag and migrate inwards, sweeping any inner planets into the central star. Observations of extrasolar planets appear to be examples of this migration process.

Answer to Question 2

TRUE

[xclash]

Excellent

[elyse44]

Thanks for the timely response, appreciate it