Extra-solar planets

Physics

Scientific paper

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Extrasolar Planets

Scientific paper

The widely accepted picture of stellar formation tells us that a planetary system is a simple by-product of the stellar formation process. When a cloud of gas and dust contracts to form a star, conservation of angular momentum induces the formation of a flat disk around the central newborn “sun”. By a process still not fully understood, this disk is believed to be the stage for the planetary formation. According to the traditional paradigm, dust particles and ice grains in the disk are gathered to form the first planetary seeds (e.g. Pollack et al. 1996). In the “outer” regions of the disk, where ices can condensate, these “planetesimals” are thought to grow in a few million years. When such a “planetesimal” achieves enough mass (about 10 times the mass of the Earth), its gravitational pull is sufficiently strong for it to start accreting gas in a runaway process that gives origin to a giant gaseous planet similar to the outer planets in our own Solar System. Later on, in the inner part of the disk, where temperatures are too high and volatiles cannot condensate, silicate particles are gathered to form the telluric planets like our Earth.

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