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| Paper: |
Formation of Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs |
| Volume: |
321, Extrasolar Planets: Today and Tomorrow |
| Page: |
271 |
| Authors: |
Lissauer, J.J. |
| Abstract: |
Models of the origins of giant planets and brown dwarfs are discussed and related to formation theories of both smaller objects (terrestrial planets) and larger bodies (stars). The most detailed models of planetary formation are based upon observations of our own Solar System, of young stars and their environments, and of extrasolar planets. Stars form from the collapse, and in some cases probably fragmentation, of molecular cloud cores. Terrestrial planets are formed within disks around young stars via the accumulation of small dust grains into larger and larger bodies until the spacing of planetary orbits becomes large enough that the configuration is stable for the age of the system. Brown dwarfs and gas giant planets, which are of intermediate mass, probably can form by either a top-down (star-like) or bottom-up (terrestrial planet-like) mechanism, with star-like formation most common for the more massive objects and those floating in space rather than orbiting one or more stars. |
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