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On the origin of asteroidsA general scenario is described for the early history of the solar system. The primitive solar nebula is formed from the infall of gas from a collapsing interstellar cloud fragment. It becomes repeatedly unstable against collapse to form giant gaseous protoplanets. In the course of protoplanet evolution the center of the protoplanet enters a thermodynamic regime in which common rocky minerals become liquids; convection brings solids to the central region where a substantial fraction of them rain out to form a protoplanetary core. In the inner solar system protoplanetary envelopes are tidally stripped away, thus injecting into the solar nebula large equantities of chondrules and inclusions. Late in the development of the solar nebula, after most of the gas has disappeared, turbulence dies out and the small solids settle into a thin layer at midplane of the nebula. Gravitational instabilities in this layer form asteroidal and cometary bodies. Some further consequences of this scenario are discussed.
Document ID
19800040425
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Other - Collected Works
Authors
Cameron, A. G. W.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Mass., United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1979
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
80A24595
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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