astrobites | 2018 Apr 13
Vatsal Panwar wrote:
Investigating the history of planet formation in the solar system can be a lot like solving a devious jigsaw puzzle, except that there is more than one set of pieces that will let you arrive at the same final picture in case of the solar system. There is a good deal of debate on the physical mechanism governing the very early stages of formation of gas giants and it continues to be one of the important open questions in planetary science.
Today’s paper by Renu Malhotra, next in the series of astrophysical classics, focuses instead on the late stages of planet formation in the solar system when the dynamical interactions between the gas giants and planetesimals are believed to have played a key role in deciding the configuration of the solar system as we see it today. The vestiges of this dynamical evolution that can be observed today are the peculiar orbits (highly eccentric, inclined, and in orbital resonance with Neptune) of trans-Neptunian objects — especially that of Pluto. ...
The Origin of Pluto's Orbit: Implications for the Solar System Beyond Neptune - Renu Malhotra
- Astronomical Journal 110(07):420 (July 1995) DOI: 10.1086/117532
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:astro-ph/9504036 > 11 Apr 1995
- Nature 365:819 (28 Oct 1993) DOI: 10.1038/365819a0