Death Spiral: Why Theorists Can't Make Solar Systems

SPACE.com ^ | Tue March 28, 2006 | Ker Than

[SunkenCiv]

For scientists who spend time thinking about how planets form, life would be simpler if gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn didn’t exist.

According to the standard model of planet formation, called "core accretion," planets form over millions of years as enormous blocks of rock and ice smash together to form planetary embryos, called "protoplanets," and eventually full-fledged planets.

Most scientists agree that core accretion is how terrestrial planets such as Earth and Mars were created, but the model can’t convincingly explain how gas giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn came to be.

One major problem is that developing gas giants through core accretion takes too long. According to the best current models, the process requires several million years—longer than the typical observed lifetime of the stellar gas disks from which planets are born.

[garbageseeker]

There is a book called "Rare Earth" that explains this.

[SunkenCiv]

We're going on a planet hunt
EurekAlert | 04/05/06 | Claire Bowles
Posted on 04/05/2006 10:53:38 PM EDT by KevinDavis
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1610016/posts

[SunkenCiv]