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The layers of the Earth, a differentiated planetary body. In planetary science, planetary differentiation is the process by which the chemical elements of a planetary body accumulate in different areas of that body, due to their physical or chemical behavior (e.g. density and chemical affinities).
Stars and planets rotate in the first place because conservation of angular momentum turns random drifting of parts of the molecular cloud that they form from into rotating motion as they coalesce. Given this average rotation of the whole body, internal differential rotation is caused by convection in stars which is a movement of mass, due to ...
A theoretical planet that has undergone planetary differentiation but has no metallic core. Not to be confused with the Hollow Earth concept. Desert planet: A terrestrial planet with an arid surface consistency similar to Earth's deserts. Mars: Gas dwarf: A low-mass planet composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. GJ 1214 b: Gas giant
Core formation, also referred to as metal-silicate differentiation, is the separation of metallic components from silicate in the magma that sink to form a planetary core. [1] Accretionary impacts that produce heat for the melting of planet embryos and large terrestrial planets have an estimated timescale of tens to hundreds of millions of years.
The term "comparative planetology" was coined by George Gamow, who reasoned that to fully understand our own planet, we must study others. Poldervaart focused on the Moon, stating "An adequate picture of this original planet and its development to the present earth is of great significance, is in fact the ultimate goal of geology as the science leading to knowledge and understanding of earth's ...
The rain-out model is a model of planetary science that describes the first stage of planetary differentiation and core formation. According to this model, a planetary body is assumed to be composed primarily of silicate minerals and NiFe (i.e. a mixture of nickel and iron). If temperatures within this body reach about 1500 K, the minerals and ...
The definition of a planet has been a hot topic ever since a change kicked Pluto out of our planetary lineup in 2006. Now, a group of researchers is proposing a new definition yet again—one with ...
A group of the world's leading planet formation experts decided at a conference in 2006 [8] on the following definition of a planetesimal: A planetesimal is a solid object arising during the accumulation of orbiting bodies whose internal strength is dominated by self-gravity and whose orbital dynamics is not significantly affected by gas drag ...