Hal Levison

Growing Planets from Meter-Sized Bodies

Abstract: Despite decades of effort, planet formation models have been unable to reproduce much of the structure seen in the Solar System. For example, the low mass of the asteroid belt, Mars's small size, the lack of planets closer to the Sun than Mercury, and the very existence of Jupiter and Saturn, have yet to be explained in a comprehensive model. Recently, a new a idea has been suggested in the literature that predicts very large accretion rates when growing planetary embryos are allowed to interact with a population of roughly meter-sized objects. I will describe new global planet formation simulations that incorporate these ideas. Preliminary results show that these new concepts potentially explain many of the heretofore unexplained mysteries of the Solar System.