Oligarchic Growth Before and After Gas Dispersal

Physics – Geophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

Runaway growth ends when the largest protoplanets dominate the dynamics of the planetesimal disk; the subsequent self-limiting accretion mode is referred to as ``oligarchic growth'' (Kokubo and Ida, Icarus 1998, 2000). Here, we expand on our previous investigation of oligarchic growth. We include the effect of gas drag-induced orbital decay of planetesimals, which acts to reduce the final protoplanet masses. Our model predicts find that a fairly massive protoplanetary disk, of order ten times the minimum mass, is required in order to form gas giant planets by core accretion during the lifetime of the nebular gas (about 10 Myrs or less); numerical simulations suggest that the actual accretion efficiency is even lower. The in-situ formation of Uranus- and Neptune-mass ``ice giants'' during this same time appears to be ruled out for any plausible disk mass. We also look at the much slower process of gas-less oligarchic growth, and derive limits on the conditions under which the formation of ice giants in the trans-Saturnian region, in less than the age of the Solar System, could be possible. This work is supported by NASA's Origins of Solar Systems (EWT and HFL), Planetary Geology and Geophysics (HFL), and Exobiology (HFL) programs, and by NSERC (MJD)

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Oligarchic Growth Before and After Gas Dispersal 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 Oligarchic Growth Before and After Gas Dispersal, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Oligarchic Growth Before and After Gas Dispersal will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1043308

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.