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A twist on planetary origins


New study finds meteorites were byproducts of planetary formation, not building blocks.

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Kimberly Allen
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High-velocity molten rock





Falling into place







This research was funded in part by NASA.

Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Solar System, Planetary science, Earth and atmospheric sciences, space, Space, astronomy and planetary science, School of Science, Research, NASA


droplets of glass in space
come home to reflect
their journey
how clever we are
to listen to their stories

Unless I missed it, it did not clarify how the protoplanets came to be. Were they the second egg or first chicken? This does not eliminate the meteor explanation for protoplanet formation.

well duh, the meteorites we see currently are not representative of similarly sized bodies that were around when the planets were first forming. Planet formation was more violent than we originally thought? How complex did you think the process was that left whole worlds orbiting the sun after formation? Seriously? Who didn't know what a train wreck on top of a sheet storm on top of a bunch of monkeys all trying to hump the same football that must have been. Seriously? So you're really saying you people need better vision or need more people with vision? Try to imagine how much extra material must have formed that isn't around today .. all the other possible earths that didn't have ideal orbits and were ejected or fell into the sun or into Jupiter or hit something else. What are the odds after a major collision a body will end up with a stable orbit? Hundreds to one against if not much much worse!!! Whole Jupiters must have trampled about the early solar system in the dozens. Planets with non planar orbits must have occurred frequently and they were inevitably doomed. The good news is we should be able to see examples of planetary formation at every stage with better instruments in the future. But in the mean time, would you people please try to keep up.

It's the building blocks and byproduct, since the universe is a paradox of creating something from nothing it must be the same for planetary formation, no?

It is just amazing~ fantastic study!

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