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Late Stages of Accretion of Uranus and NeptuneA series of N-body simulations were done to try and form Uranus and Neptune from a swarm of a hundred sub-Earth-sized planetary embryos initially on low-inclination, nearly circular orbits beyond Saturn. These calculations were designed to test published Monte Carlo simulations and N-body simulations. Whereas these studies reported successful formation of Uranus and Neptune sized planets, we found very little accretion at all. This occurs because the embryos are dynamically excited by each other and the gravitational effects of Jupiter and Saturn on a time scale that is short compared to the collision time scale. This process produces large orbital eccentricities and inclinations which significantly reduce the collisional cross-section of the embryos because it reduces the effect of gravitational focusing.
Document ID
20020080687
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Contractor or Grantee Report
Authors
Stewart, Glen R.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO United States)
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2002
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-6048
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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