Planet formation
Core Accretion
The leading model of planet formation: dust in a protoplanetary disk sticks into ever-larger bodies until a solid core grows massive enough — roughly ten Earth masses — to pull in a thick envelope of gas, becoming a giant planet. It naturally explains rocky planets, ice giants, and gas giants as a sequence, though building cores fast enough before the gas disperses is a live problem.
Highlights
- ›Grow a solid core, then capture gas — the standard model
Methods, worlds & facilities
Across exoplanet science
Knowledge connections
- Associated withProtoplanetary Disks
- Associated withPlanet-Formation Chemistry
- Associated withGas giant
- Associated withDisk Instability
- Associated withPlanetary Migration
- Associated withThe Snow Line
- Associated withPebble Accretion
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.