Pith. sign in

REVIEW 6 cited by

Planet formation theory: an overview

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2412.11064 v2 pith:6SACF6PH submitted 2024-12-15 astro-ph.EP

classification astro-ph.EP
keywords formationplanetdiskgrowthoverviewsystemunderstandingaccretion
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
0 comments
read the original abstract

The standard model for planet formation is a bottom-up process in which the origin of rocky and gaseous planets can be traced back to the collision of micron-sized dust grains within the gas-rich environment of protoplanetary disks. Key milestones along the way include disk formation, grain growth, planetesimal formation, core growth, gas accretion, and planetary system evolution. I provide an introductory overview of planet formation, emphasizing the main ideas and reviewing current theoretical understanding. Many of the phases of planet formation have a well-developed physical understanding, though the complexity of the problem means that few can be quantitatively modeled with complete confidence. Transformative advances in disk imaging provide the first direct information on the initial conditions for planet formation, while exoplanet data has motivated new formation models that are faster, more efficient, and lead to a more diverse set of architectures than their Solar System inspired forebears. Much remains to be learned, and I close with a personal, incomplete list, of open problems.

Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.

Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. The Discovery of 25 um Interstellar Methanol

    astro-ph.GA 2025-07 conditional novelty 8.0 of 10

    Methanol's 25 µm torsional band is detected for the first time in interstellar gas, toward NGC 7538 IRS 1, giving a temperature near 180 K and a column density near 2×10^17 cm^-2.

  2. Dust and Gas Transport in Substructured Nonideal MHD Wind-Launching Disks with Embedded Planets

    astro-ph.EP 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    In magnetized wind-launching disks, planet-opened gaps remain partially permeable: small grains and gas leak through, while large grains are filtered, making substructures regulators rather than barriers.

  3. Extreme Debris Disks: Insights into Violent Collisions in Planet Formation and Destruction

    astro-ph.EP 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Extreme debris disks are a distinct subclass produced by large (Moon- to Mars-sized) collisions, with silica-rich mineralogy tracing energetic embryo impacts during terrestrial planet formation and high-W10 silica-poo...

  4. The Longest-period Young Transiting Exoplanets. A Duo of Puffy Giants inside a Debris Disk

    astro-ph.EP 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    HD 114082 hosts two puffy, moderate-to-low-mass giants on nearly circular, coplanar, near-resonant orbits of 225.55 and ~314 days, the longest-period young transiting exoplanets known.

  5. The Radius, Composition, Albedo, and Absolute Magnitude of Planet Nine Based on Exoplanets with Teq less than 600 K and the Planet Nine Reference Population 3.0

    astro-ph.EP 2025-07 conditional novelty 4.0 of 10

    Planet Nine, if it exists, is most likely a mini-Neptune with a radius of 2 to 2.6 Earth radii and an H-He envelope of 0.6 to 3.5 percent by mass, based on a sample of cool exoplanets.

  6. Formation of Giant Planets

    astro-ph.EP 2025-01 unverdicted

    A comprehensive review argues that core accretion is the dominant pathway for giant planet formation, while gas disk fragmentation rarely produces planets.

Pith tools