Gas Giants May Initially Form as Flattened Shapes, New Study Suggests
Challenging traditional theories, recent research based on computer simulations indicates gas giants could start off significantly flatter than previously thought.
- New research suggests gas giants like Jupiter may initially form with significantly flattened shapes, challenging traditional theories of planetary formation.
- The findings, based on computer simulations, could reshape our understanding of the early stages of planetary formation within protostellar disks.
- The theory of disk instability, as opposed to the widely accepted core accretion model, may better explain the formation of gas giants far from their host stars.
- Observations of only three protoplanets so far have shown them to be surprisingly flat, with a typical flattening of 90%, compared to Saturn's 10% and Jupiter's 6%.
- Future observations by the James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories are expected to provide more data to support these findings.
BGR 
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