Related papers: Rocky Planet Formation: Quick and Neat
The solar system planetary architecture has been proposed to be consistent with the terrestrial and giant planets forming from material rings at ~1 au and ~5 au, respectively. Here, we show that super-Earths and mini-Neptunes may share a…
A significant fraction of the mature FGK stars have cool dusty disks at least an orders of magnitudes brighter than the solar system's outer zodiacal light. Since such dusts must be continually replenished, they are generally assumed to be…
We discuss the properties of several circumstellar debris disk systems imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer in a survey of young stars with known far-IR excesses. These dusty disks…
From the masses of planets orbiting our Sun, and relative elemental abundances, it is estimated that at birth our Solar System required a minimum disk mass of ~0.01 solar masses within ~100 AU of the star. The main constituent, gaseous…
Studies of transiting extra-solar planets are of key importance for understanding the nature of planets outside our Solar System, because their densities can be determined, constraining of what the planets are made of. Using the data…
We discuss the results of laboratory measurements and theoretical models concerning the aggregation of dust in protoplanetary disks, as the initial step toward planet formation. Small particles easily stick when they collide and form…
The formation of planetesimals is a necessary step in the formation of planets. While several mechanisms have been proposed, a local dust-to-gas ratio above unity is a strong requirement to trigger the collapse of pebble clouds into…
The process of planet formation offers a rich source of dust production via grain growth in protostellar discs, and via grinding of larger bodies in debris disc systems. Chemical evolution models, designed to follow the build up of metals…
We review the current theoretical understanding how growth from micro-meter sized dust to massive giant planets occurs in disks around young stars. After introducing a number of observational constraints from the solar system, from observed…
Giant planets have been discovered at large separations from the central star. Moreover, a striking number of young circumstellar disks have gas and/or dust gaps at large orbital separations, potentially driven by embedded planetary…
Recent ALMA observations indicate that while a range of disk sizes exist, typical disk radii are small, and that radial dust drift affects the distribution of solids in disks. Here we explore the consequences of these features in planet…
Measuring the amount of gas and dust in protoplanetary disks is a key challenge in planet formation studies. Here we provide a new set of dust depletion factors and relative mass surface densities of gas and dust for the innermost regions…
Gaps in protoplanetary disks have long been hailed as signposts of planet formation. However, a direct link between exoplanets and disks remains hard to identify. We present a large sample study of ALMA disk surveys of nearby star-forming…
We compute the accretion efficiency of small solids, with radii 1 cm $\le$ Rs $\le$ 10 m, on planets embedded in gaseous disks. Planets have masses 3 $\le$ Mp $\le$ 20 Earth masses (Me) and orbit within 10 AU of a solar-mass star. Disk…
We address two outstanding issues in the sequential accretion scenario for gas giant planet formation, the retention of dust grains in the presence of gas drag and that of cores despite type I migration. The efficiency of these processes is…
Flattened, rotating disks of cool dust and gas extending for tens to hundreds of AU are found around almost all low mass stars shortly after their birth. These disks generally persist for several Myr, during which time some material…
Since giant planets scatter planetesimals within a few tidal radii of their orbits, the locations of existing planetesimal belts indicate regions where giant planet formation failed in bygone protostellar disks. Infrared observations of…
To date, several exoplanets have been discovered orbiting stars with close binary companions (a~<30 AU). The fact that planets can form in these dynamically challenging environments implies that planet formation must be a robust process.…
Super-Earths are found in tighter orbits than the Earth's around more than one third of main sequence stars. It has been proposed that super-Earths are scaled-up terrestrial planets that formed similarly, through mutual accretion of…
An unsolved issue in the standard core accretion model for gaseous planet formation is how kilometre-sized planetesimals form from, initially, micron-sized dust grains. Solid growth beyond metre sizes can be difficult both because the…