(June 3, 2014 at 12:08 pm)Chuck Wrote:
Wouldn't really think so. Most of the materials from which terresterial planets are made were created inside very large, short lived stars that go supernova at the end of their lives. These stars have life expectancies measured in millions, not billions of years.
Current view is Universe is 13.7 billion years old, and the first generation of stars were around by 13 billion years ago.
By the time this planet formed 11 billions ago, the universe already had 2 billion years, enough to go through several dozen of generations of stars that manufactured and distributed terresterial planet material, to prepare the scene for terresterial planet formation.
What makes you think that the Universe is 13.7 billion years old?
As far as giant terrestrial planets are concerned, their climate and weather patterns would be a real bear. They would be smoother than a cue ball. The larger the planet the flatter it becomes, based on comparisons between Earth and Mars.