The last giant impact on Earth is thought to have formed the Moon. The timing of this event can be determined by dating the different rocks assumed to have crystallized from the lunar magma ocean (LMO). This has led to a wide range of estimates for the age of the Moon between 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe giant planets of the Solar System formed on initially compact orbits, which transitioned to the current wider configuration by means of an orbital instability. The timing of that instability is poorly constrained. In this work, we use dynamical simulations to demonstrate that the instability implanted planetesimal fragments from the terrestrial planet region into the asteroid main belt.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeptune-sized planets exhibit a wide range of compositions and densities, depending on factors related to their formation and evolution history, such as the distance from their host stars and atmospheric escape processes. They can vary from relatively low-density planets with thick hydrogen-helium atmospheres to higher-density planets with a substantial amount of water or a rocky interior with a thinner atmosphere, such as HD 95338 b (ref. ), TOI-849 b (ref.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChondritic meteorites are thought to be representative of the material that formed the Earth. However, the Earth is depleted in volatile elements in a manner unlike that in any chondrite, and yet these elements retain chondritic isotope ratios. Here we use N-body simulations to show that the Earth did not form from chondrites, but rather by stochastic accretion of many precursor bodies whose variable compositions reflect the temperatures at which they formed.
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