How Gas Giants Form: New Computer Simulation Revealed
New simulations published in The Astrophysical Journal reveal that gas giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn can build solid 10-Earth-mass cores in roughly 200,000 years. According to researchers Hiroshi Kobayashi of Nagoya University and Hidekazu Tanaka of Tohoku University, icy pebbles drifting inward from the outer protoplanetary disk collide and convert into planetesimals. This creates … Read more