Planet Formation Gets A New Guess - Stellar Turbulence

Friday, December 12, 2008 - 12:01 in Astronomy & Space

A new paper in The Astrophysical Journal suggests that turbulence plays a critical role in creating ripe conditions for the birth of planets, a challenge to the prevailing theory of planet formation, gravitational instability.  Using three-dimensional simulations of the dust and gas that orbits young stars, the study claims that turbulence is a significant obstacle to gravitational instability, which scientists have used since the 1970s to explain the early stage of planet formation.  read more

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