Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula

Details Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula

2008-06-23

arxiv.org/abs/0806.3788v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Version 2: reflects lead author's name and affiliation change, contains minor changes to text from version 1. 12 figures, 7 ta

Scientific paper

10.1016/j.icarus.2008.11.023

To date, there is no core accretion simulation that can successfully account for the formation of Uranus or Neptune within the observed 2-3 Myr lifetimes of protoplanetary disks. Since solid accretion rate is directly proportional to the available planetesimal surface density, one way to speed up planet formation is to take a full accounting of all the planetesimal-forming solids present in the solar nebula. By combining a viscously evolving protostellar disk with a kinetic model of ice formation, we calculate the solid surface density in the solar nebula as a function of heliocentric distance and time. We find three effects that strongly favor giant planet formation: (1) a decretion flow that brings mass from the inner solar nebula to the giant planet-forming region, (2) recent lab results (Collings et al. 2004) showing that the ammonia and water ice lines should coincide, and (3) the presence of a substantial amount of methane ice in the trans-Saturnian region. Our results show higher solid surface densities than assumed in the core accretion models of Pollack et al. (1996) by a factor of 3 to 4 throughout the trans-Saturnian region. We also discuss the location of ice lines and their movement through the solar nebula, and provide new constraints on the possible initial disk configurations from gravitational stability arguments.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ice Lines, Planetesimal Composition and Solid Surface Density in the Solar Nebula will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-96996