Related papers: Jupiter's formation and its primordial internal st…
The population of hot Jupiters with adjacent planetary companions is small but growing, and inner companions appear to be a nearly ubiquitous outcome within this subset of the exoplanet census. While most hot Jupiters are believed to form…
Favored theories of giant planet formation center around two main paradigms, namely the core accretion model and the gravitational instability model. These two formation scenarios support the hypothesis that the giant planet metallicities…
The heavy element content of giant exoplanets, inferred from structure models based on their radius and mass, often exceeds predictions based on classical core accretion. Pebble drift, coupled with volatile evaporation, has been proposed as…
The internal structure of Jupiter is constrained by the precise gravity field measurements by NASA's Juno mission, atmospheric data from the Galileo entry probe, and Voyager radio occultations. Not only are these observations few compared…
The statistics of extrasolar planetary systems indicate that the default mode of planet formation generates planets with orbital periods shorter than 100 days, and masses substantially exceeding that of the Earth. When viewed in this…
Recent measurements of Jupiter's gravitational moments by the Juno spacecraft and seismology of Saturn's rings suggest that the primordial composition gradients in the deep interior of these planets have persisted since their formation. One…
The formation of a cold Jupiter (CJ) is expected to quench the influx of pebbles and the migration of cores interior to its orbit, thus limiting the efficiency of rocky planet formation either by pebble accretion and/or orbital migration.…
Gas giants are believed to form by the accretion of hydrogen-helium gas around an initial protocore of rock and ice. The question of whether the rocky parts of the core dissolve into the fluid H-He layers following formation has significant…
The chemical composition of a planetary body reflects its starting conditions modified by numerous processes during its formation and geological evolution. Measurements by X-ray, gamma-ray, and neutron spectrometers on the MESSENGER…
Jupiter played an important role in determining the structure and configuration of the Solar System. Whereas hot-Jupiter type exoplanets preferentially form around metal-rich stars, the conditions required for the formation of planets with…
The composition of a planet's atmosphere is determined by its formation, evolution, and present-day insolation. A planet's spectrum therefore may hold clues on its origins. We present a "chain" of models, linking the formation of a planet…
The first mass-estimate of an exoplanet around a Sun-like star, 51 Peg b and the first radius measurement of an exoplanet, HD209458b pointed to the challenges of understanding the atmosphere, interior, and evolution of exoplanets including…
Juno and Cassini have shown that Jupiter and Saturn likely contain extended gradients of heavy elements. Yet, how these gradients can survive over billions of years remains an open question. Classical convection theories predict rapid…
In an ongoing effort to understand planet formation the link between the chemistry of the protoplanetary disk and the properties of resulting planets have long been a subject of interest. These connections have generally been made between…
Oxygen is the most common element after hydrogen and helium in Jupiter's atmosphere, and may have been the primary condensable (as water ice) in the protoplanetary disk. Prior to the Juno mission, in situ measurements of Jupiter's water…
The intrinsic luminosity of young Jupiters is of high interest for planet formation theory. It is an observable quantity that is determined by important physical mechanisms during formation, namely the accretion shock structure, and even…
Kepler planets (including super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, from 1 to 4 Earth radii) are likely formed before the gaseous proto-planetary disks have dissipated, as are the Jovian planets. If the metal content in these disks resembles that in…
Firstly, we study the final masses of giant planets growing in protoplanetary disks through capture of disk gas, by employing an empirical formula for the gas capture rate and a shallow disk gap model, which are both based on hydrodynamical…
For its beautiful rings, active atmosphere and mysterious magnetic field, Saturn is a fascinating planet. It also holds some of the keys to understanding the formation of our Solar System and the evolution of giant planets in general. While…
We examine the comparative thermal evolution of Jupiter and Saturn applying recent theoretical results for helium's immiscibility in fluid metallic hydrogen. The redistribution of helium in their interiors proceeds very differently for the…