planetary system architecture tagged posts

Four Classes of Planetary Systems

Artist impression of the four classes of planetary system architecture. A new architecture framework allows researchers to study an entire planetary system at the systems level. If the small planets within a system are close to the star and massive planets further away, such systems have ‘Ordered’ architecture. Conversely, if the mass of the planets in a system tends to decrease with distance to the star these systems are ‘Anti-Ordered’. If all planets in a system have similar masses, then the architecture of this system is ‘Similar’. ‘Mixed’ planetary systems are those in which the planetary masses show large variations. Research suggests that planetary systems which have the same architecture class have common formation pathways...
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