Synonyms
Keywords
Accretion, dust coagulation, solar nebula, nebular hypothesis, planet formation, spectral energy distribution, star formation, T Tauri star
Definition
A protoplanetary disk is a disk of gas (99% by mass) and dust (1%), orbiting a newly formed star, from which planets are (hypothesized to be) formed. Disks are common by-products of star formation, and range in mass from 0.001 to 0.3 Solar masses (1027–1029 kg) and in size from several tens to almost 1,000 Astronomical Units (1012–1014 m). Inside the disk, matter slowly moves inwards, and dust particles grow to centimeter-sized pebbles: the first steps toward the formation of kilometer-sized planetesimals. Protoplanetary disks typically disperse after 2–3 million years through the coalescence of their matter into planets and photoevaporation by the stellar radiation.
History
As a hypothesis, the concept of protoplanetary disks dates back to the eighteenth century,...
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References and Further Reading
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Hogerheijde, M.R. (2011). Protoplanetary Disk. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1299
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_1299
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