COSMIC 'SANDWICH' THEORY COULD EXPLAIN HOW SMALLER PLANETS ARE FORMED

Sandwiched planet formation may arise as the result of gas and dust being squeezed between large planets

- Robert Lea

Smaller planets might be born when gas and dust are squeezed between larger worlds, like the filling in a cosmic sandwich. The newly suggested process , dubbed ‘sandwiched planet formation’, would occur in the massive discs of planet-birthing gas and dust that swirl around stars in their infancy. Around 4.5 billion years ago, the Solar System itself would have existed as one such disc around the infant Sun, from which the planets arose.

This new theory of planet birth was developed by researchers at the University of Warwick. According to sandwiched planet formation, two large planets already present in the protoplanetary disc would restrict the flow of dust inwards through the flattened cloud of gas and dust. This results in matter collecting between the planets, with dense patches of the protoplanetary disc collapsing to birth planets. This gathering of gas and dust between the original two large planets would then form a middle planet smaller than its two outer companions. The theory put forward by the team still needs to be confirmed, but if it is, it could explain how smaller planets like Mars are born.