CIS: Gas Giant Composition Not Determined by Host Star

Find out the latest thinking about our universe.
Post Reply
User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21573
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

CIS: Gas Giant Composition Not Determined by Host Star

Post by bystander » Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:08 am

Gas Giant Composition Not Determined by Host Star
Carnegie Institution for Science | 2019 Dec 03
A surprising analysis of the composition of gas giant exoplanets and their host stars shows that there isn’t a strong correlation between their compositions when it comes to elements heavier than hydrogen and helium ... This finding has important implications for our understanding of the planetary formation process.

In their youths, stars are surrounded by a rotating disk of gas and dust from which planets are born. Astronomers have long wondered how much a star’s makeup determines the raw material from which planets are constructed—a question that is easier to probe now that we know the galaxy is teeming with exoplanets. ...

Teske, Thorngren and their colleagues ... compared the bulk heavy element content of 24 cool, gas giant planets to the abundances of “planet-forming elements” carbon, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, iron, and nickel in their 19 host stars. ...

They were surprised to find that there was no correlation between the amount of heavy elements in these giant planets and the amount of these planet-forming elements in their host stars So how can astronomers explain the established trend that stars rich in heavy elements are more likely to host gas giant planets? ...

Do Metal-Rich Stars Make Metal-Rich Planets? New Insights on
Giant Planet Formation from Host Star Abundances
~ Johanna K. Teske et al
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

Post Reply