Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks may push super-Earths close to their stars
Sunday, May 12, 2019 - 04:41
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers found that as planets form out of the chaotic churn of gravitational, hydrodynamic -- or, drag -- and magnetic forces and collisions within the dusty, gaseous protoplanetary disk that surrounds a star as a planetary system starts to form, the orbits of these planets eventually get in synch, causing them to slide -- follow the leader-style -- toward the star.