Gaseous drag and planetary formation by accretion

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985 · Icarus; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(85)90045-4· OSTI ID:5936132

Spaute, D; Lago, B; Cazenave, A

Several numerical experiments concerning the collisional and gravitational interaction of a planetesimal swarm in the early solar system are presented. The experiments simulate the accretional growth of numerous planetesimals in the absence (or presence) of gaseous drag, with (or without) one larger embryo among them, and with (or without) a size gradient. It is shown that, for a population of planetesimals subjected to a negative gradient in size as the heliocentric distance increases, the outer planetesimals spiral toward the sun faster than the inner ones; this leads after some time to an accumulation of bodies inside the cloud, allowing the formation of an embryo. In addition, it is found that the growth of one embryo among a population of planetesimals is accelerated by the presence of gas, and is warranted as long as its feeding zone is fed by the inward flow of planetesimals due to gaseous drag. 15 references.

• Research Organization: CNES, Groupe de Recherche de Geodesie Spatiale, Toulouse, France
• OSTI ID: 5936132
• Journal Information: Icarus; (United States), Vol. 64
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
DRAG
COLLISIONS
MASS DISTRIBUTION
PERTURBATION THEORY
PROTOPLANETS
SOLAR SYSTEM
THEORETICAL DATA
DATA
DISTRIBUTION
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
640107* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Planetary Phenomena