New model provides different take on planetary accretion
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 07:01
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- The prevailing model for planetary accretion, also called fractal assembly, and dating back as far as the 18th century, assumes that the Solar Systems planets grew as small grains colliding chaotically, coalescing into bigger ones, colliding yet more until they formed planetesimals. The planetesimals then collided until they formed planets as varied as the Earth and Jupiter.