Brainy Quote of the Day

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Directly imaged exoplanet challenges formation models

"Two years ago, astronomers in Canada directly imaged what seemed to be a gas giant planet in a very distant orbit—more than 300 times the Earth–Sun distance of one astronomical unit (AU)—around a star much like our Sun. (For comparison, Jupiter's orbit is 5.2 AU, Neptune's is 30 AU.) Such a scenario poses difficulties for all the major planet-formation models in current use: core accretion, gravitational instability, and fragmentation of a pre-stellar core."

More at: Directly imaged exoplanet challenges formation models

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