Formation of Giant Planets

Abstract

Giant planets are tens to thousands of times as massive as the Earth, and many times as large. Most of their volumes are occupied by hydrogen and helium, the primary constituents of the protostellar disks from which they formed. Significantly, the solar system giants are also highly enriched in heavier elements relative to the Sun, indicating that solid material participated in their assembly. Giant planets account for most of the mass of our planetary system and of those extrasolar planetary systems in which they are present. Therefore, giant planets are primary actors in determining the orbital architectures of planetary systems and, possibly, in affecting the composition of terrestrial planets. This Chapter describes the principal route that, according to current knowledge, can lead to the formation of giant planets, the core nucleated accretion model, and an alternative route, the disk instability model, which may lead to the formation of planetary-mass objects on wide orbits.

Invited review, accepted for publication in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", eds. H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, Springer (2018). 28 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• A giant exoplanet orbiting a very low-mass star challenges planet formation models
• Exploring the link between star and planet formation with Ariel
• A Family of Phase Masks For Broadband Coronagraphy Example of the Wrapped Vortex Phase Mask Theory and Laboratory demonstration
• Zodiacal Exoplanets in Time (ZEIT) XII: A Directly-Imaged Planetary-Mass Companion to a Young Taurus M Dwarf Star