Gas accretion by planetary cores

TL;DR

This paper presents 3D radiation hydrodynamical simulations of giant planet growth, analyzing how accretion rates depend on grain opacity and core mass, and compares results with previous models.

Contribution

It introduces detailed 3D models of planetary accretion that incorporate self-gravity and radiation, providing new insights into accretion rate dependencies.

Findings

Accretion rates for low-mass cores align with previous 1D models.

Accretion rates depend on grain opacity and core mass.

The models improve understanding of giant planet formation processes.

Abstract

We present accretion rates obtained from three-dimensional self-gravitating radiation hydrodynamical models of giant planet growth. We investigate the dependence of accretion rates upon grain opacity and core/protoplanet mass. The accretion rates found for low mass cores are inline with the results of previous one-dimensional models that include radiative transfer.