Planet formation (source code)

= Planet formation

<Planet formation> is the growth of <planets> from material around a young <star>. Solid grains in a <protoplanetary disk> can collide and stick through <protoplanetary dust coagulation>, concentrate into <planetesimals>, and build <planetary embryos>. Their <gravity> modifies further encounters through <gravitational focusing>, while collisions can merge or fragment the bodies.

In <core accretion>, a growing solid core can acquire a gas envelope if the gas can cool and remain bound. Direct formation from a self-gravitating gas concentration is a distinct route involving <gravitational instability of an astrophysical disk>. <Planetary migration> and <planetary scattering> can subsequently change the <orbits>, so present location alone does not identify formation location. <Planetary differentiation> then reorganizes the material inside an assembled body.