Related papers: Jupiter's formation and its primordial internal st…
Studying and understanding the physical and chemical processes that govern hot Jupiters gives us insights on the formation of these giant planets. Having a constraint on the molecular composition of their atmosphere can help us pinpoint…
The determination of Saturn's atmospheric noble gas abundances are critical to understanding the formation and evolution of Saturn, and giant planets in general. These measurements can only be performed with an entry probe. A Saturn probe…
Jupiter's deep abundances help to constrain the formation history of the planet and the environment of the protoplanetary nebula. Juno recently measured Jupiter's deep oxygen abundance near the equator to be 2.2$_{-2.1}^{+3.9}$ times the…
Hot Jupiters, giant extrasolar planets with orbital periods shorter than ~10 days, have long been thought to form at large radial distances, only to subsequently experience long-range inward migration. Here, we propose that in contrast with…
The radial-dependent positions of snowlines of abundant oxygen- and carbon-bearing molecules in protoplanetary discs will result in systematic radial variations in the C/O ratios in the gas and ice. This variation is proposed as a tracer of…
We have investigated Saturn's core formation at a radial pressure maximum in a protoplanetary disk, which is created by gap opening by Jupiter. A core formed via planetesimal accretion induces the fragmentation of surrounding planetesimals,…
The atmospheric chemical composition of a hot Jupiter can lead to insights into where in its natal protoplanetary disk it formed and its subsequent migration pathway. We use a 1-D chemical kinetics code to compute a suite of models across a…
Jupiter's atmosphere has been observed to be depleted in helium (Yatm~0.24), suggesting active helium sedimentation in the interior. This is accounted for in standard Jupiter structure and evolution models through the assumption of an…
Jupiter's gravity field observed by NASA's Juno spacecraft indicates that the density in the 10--100 GPa region is lower than one would expect from a H/He adiabat with 0.5-5x solar water abundance as has been observationally inferred in…
Hot Jupiters receive strong stellar irradiation, producing equilibrium temperatures of $1000 - 2500 \ \mathrm{Kelvin}$. Incoming irradiation directly heats just their thin outer layer, down to pressures of $\sim 0.1 \ \mathrm{bars}$. In…
We present a comprehensive evolutionary model of the Sun's protoplanetary disk, constructed to resolve the "CAI Storage" problem of meteoritics. We predict the abundances of calcium-rich, aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) and refractory…
In this chapter we summarize current knowledge of the internal structure of giant planets. We concentrate on the importance of heavy elements and their role in determining the planetary composition and internal structure, in planet…
Some Jupiter-mass exoplanets contain $\sim$$100\, M_\oplus$ of metals, well above the $\sim$$10\, M_\oplus$ typically needed in a solid core to trigger giant planet formation by runaway gas accretion. We demonstrate that such `heavy-metal…
Aspects of our Solar System's formation are deduced from observations of the chemical nature of matter. Massive cores are indicative of terrestrial-planet-composition-similarity to enstatite chondrite meteorites, whose highly-reduced state…
Giant planet formation process is still not completely understood. The current most accepted paradigm, the core instability model, explains several observed properties of the solar system's giant planets but, to date, has faced difficulties…
Royal Society Discussion Meeting (2013) `Characterizing exoplanets'. Of the 900+ confirmed exoplanets discovered since 1995 for which we have constraints on their mass (i.e., not including Kepler candidates), 75% have masses larger than…
Jovian planet formation has been shown to be strongly correlated with host star metallicity, which is thought to be a proxy for disk solids. Observationally, previous works have indicated that jovian planets preferentially form around stars…
'Empirical' models (pressure vs. density) of Uranus and Neptune interiors constrained by the gravitational coefficients J_2, J_4, the planetary radii and masses, and Voyager solid-body rotation periods are presented. The empirical…
Interior models of gas giants in the Solar System traditionally assume a fully convective molecular hydrogen envelope. However, recent observations from the Juno mission suggest a possible depletion of alkali metals in Jupiter's molecular…
The occurrence rate of cold Jupiters was found to depend on stellar mass. The formation environment in the protoplanetary disks regulates core formation and the subsequent gas accretion. In this study, we simulate giant planet formation via…