Ep 64: Why do big ones orbit so strangely?
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Why do big ones orbit so strangely?
Today, we consider all the large planets orbiting stars other than our sun, and their tendency to adopt eccentric orbits. The possible reasons include close encounters with other stars, interactions between the planets themselves, and different ways the large planets may have formed.
Here’s an article on the large size of Jupiter, and the core accretion model, versus disk instability as possible explanations.
Here are several articles on computer simulations of planet to planet interaction, which could cause orbits to become eccentric, or planets to adopt a short-term nearly circular orbit, or even flip over.
Mystery Solved: How The Orbits Of Extrasolar Planets Became So Eccentric
The Architecture of Planetary Systems
Orbit Flips in Exoplanet Systems
Toward the end of the episode, I referenced a couple of earlier episodes. Here are links to said episodes.