The physics of accretion disks encounters some problems.

[16] The most important

one is how the material, which is accreted by the protostar, loses its angular m
omentum. One possible explanation suggested by Hannes Alfvn was that angular mome
ntum was shed by the solar wind during its T Tauri phase. The momentum is probab
ly transported to the outer parts of the disk, but the precise mechanism of this
transport is not well understood. Another possible process for shedding angular
momentum is magnetic braking, where the spin of the star is transferred into th
e surrounding disk via that star's magnetic field.[17] The process or processes
responsible for the disappearance of the disks are also poorly known.[18][19]
The formation of planetesimals is the biggest unsolved problem in the Nebular Di
sk Model. How 1 cm sized particles coalesce into 1 km planetesimals is a mystery
. This mechanism appears to be the key to the question as to why some stars have
planets, while others have nothing around them, not even dust belts.[20]
The formation of giant planets is another unsolved problem. Current theories are
unable to explain how their cores can form fast enough to accumulate significan
t amounts of gas from the quickly disappearing protoplanetary disk.[14][21] The
mean lifetime of the disks, which are less than 107 years, appears to be shorter
than the time necessary for the core formation.[11]
Another problem of giant planet formation is their migration. Some calculations
show that interaction with the disk can cause rapid inward migration, which, if
not stopped, results in the planet reaching the "central regions still as a sub-
Jovian object."[22]
A major critique came during the 19th century from James Clerk Maxwell who maint
ained that different rotation between the inner and outer parts of a ring could
not allow condensation of material.[23] It was also rejected by astronomer Sir D
avid Brewster who stated that "those who believe in the Nebular Theory consider
it as certain that our Earth derived its solid matter and its atmosphere from a
ring thrown from the Solar atmosphere, which afterwards contracted into a solid
terraqueous sphere, from which the Moon was thrown off by the same process." He
argued that under such view, "the Moon must necessarily have carried off water a
nd air from the watery and aerial parts of the Earthy and must have an atmospher
e."[24] Brewster claimed that Sir Isaac Newton's religious beliefs had previousl
y considered nebular ideas as tending to atheism, and quoted him saying that "th
e growth of new systems out of old ones, without the mediation of a Divine power
, seemed to him apparently absurd."[25]
Formation of stars and protoplanetary disks[edit]
Protostars[edit]
Main article: Protostar
The visible-light (left) and infrared (right) views of the Trifid Nebulaa giant s
tar-forming cloud of gas and dust located 5,400 light-years away in the constell
ation Sagittarius
Stars are thought to form inside giant clouds of cold molecular hydrogengiant mol
ecular clouds roughly 300,000 times the mass of the Sun and 20 parsecs in diamet
er.[4][26] Over millions of years, giant molecular clouds are prone to collapse
and fragmentation.[27] These fragments then form small, dense cores, which in tu
rn collapse into stars.[26] The cores range in mass from a fraction to several t
imes that of the Sun and are called protostellar (protosolar) nebulae.[4] They p
ossess diameters of 0.010.1 pc (2,00020,000 AU) and a particle number density of r
oughly 10,000 to 100,000 cm-3.[a][26][28]
The initial collapse of a solar-mass protostellar nebula takes around 100,000 ye
ars.[4][26] Every nebula begins with a certain amount of angular momentum. Gas i
n the central part of the nebula, with relatively low angular momentum, undergoe
s fast compression and forms a hot hydrostatic (not contracting) core containing
a small fraction of the mass of the original nebula.[29] This core forms the se
ed of what will become a star.[4][29] As the collapse continues, conservation of
angular momentum means that the rotation of the infalling envelop accelerates,[
19][30] which largely prevents the gas from directly accreting onto the central
core. The gas is instead forced to spread outwards near its equatorial plane, fo
rming a disk, which in turn accretes onto the core.[4][19][30] The core graduall
y grows in mass until it becomes a young hot protostar.[29] At this stage, the p
rotostar and its disk are heavily obscured by the infalling envelope and are not
directly observable.[10] In fact the remaining envelope's opacity is so high th
at even millimeter-wave radiation has trouble escaping from inside it.[4][10] Su
ch objects are observed as very bright condensations, which emit mainly millimet
er-wave and submillimeter-wave radiation.[28] They are classified as spectral Cl
ass 0 protostars.[10] The collapse is often accompanied by bipolar outflowsjetstha
t emanate along the rotational axis of the inferred disk. The jets are frequentl
y observed in star-forming regions (see HerbigHaro (HH) objects).[31] The luminos
ity of the Class 0 protostars is high a solar-mass protostar may radiate at up t
o 100 solar luminosities.[10] The source of this energy is gravitational collaps
e, as their cores are not yet hot enough to begin nuclear fusion.[29][32]
Infrared image of the molecular outflow from an otherwise hidden newborn star HH
46/47
As the envelope's material continues to infall onto the disk, it eventually beco
mes thin and transparent and the young stellar object (YSO) becomes observable,
initially in far-infrared light and later in the visible.[28] Around this time t
he protostar begins to fuse deuterium. If the protostar is sufficiently massive
(above 80 Jupiter masses), hydrogen fusion follows. Otherwise, if its mass is to
o low, the object becomes a brown dwarf.[32] This birth of a new star occurs app
roximately 100,000 years after the collapse begins.[4] Objects at this stage are
known as Class I protostars,[10] which are also called young T Tauri stars, evo
lved protostars, or young stellar objects.[10] By this time the forming star has
already accreted much of its mass: the total mass of the disk and remaining env
elope does not exceed 1020% of the mass of the central YSO.[28]
At the next stage the envelope completely disappears, having been gathered up by
the disk, and the protostar becomes a classical T Tauri star.[b] This happens a
fter about 1 million years.[4] The mass of the disk around a classical T Tauri s
tar is about 13% of the stellar mass, and it is accreted at a rate of 10-7 to 10-
9 solar masses per year.[35] A pair of bipolar jets is usually present as well.[
36] The accretion explains all peculiar properties of classical T Tauri stars: s
trong flux in the emission lines (up to 100% of the intrinsic luminosity of the
star), magnetic activity, photometric variability and jets.[37] The emission lin
es actually form as the accreted gas hits the "surface" of the star, which happe
ns around its magnetic poles.[37] The jets are byproducts of accretion: they car
ry away excessive angular momentum. The classical T Tauri stage lasts about 10 m
illion years.[4] The disk eventually disappears due to accretion onto the centra
l star, planet formation, ejection by jets and photoevaporation by UV-radiation
from the central star and nearby stars.[38] As a result the young star becomes a
weakly lined T Tauri star, which slowly, over hundreds of millions of years, ev
olves into an ordinary sun-like star.[29]
Protoplanetary disks[edit]
See also: Protoplanetary disk and planetesimal
Debris disks detected in HST archival images of young stars, HD 141943 and HD 19
1089, using improved imaging processes (24 April 2014).[39]
Under certain circumstances the disk, which can now be called protoplanetary, ma
y give birth to a planetary system.[4] Protoplanetary disks have been observed a
round a very high fraction of stars in young star clusters.[11][40] They exist f
rom the beginning of a star's formation, but at the earliest stages are unobserv
able due to the opacity of the surrounding envelope.[10] The disk of a Class 0 p
rotostar is thought to be massive and hot. It is an accretion disk, which feeds
the central protostar.[19][30] The temperature can easily exceed 400 K inside 5
AU and 1,000 K inside 1 AU.[41] The heating of the disk is primarily caused by t
he viscous dissipation of turbulence in it and by the infall of the gas from the
nebula.[19][30] The high temperature in the inner disk causes most of the volat
ile materialwater, organics, and some rocks to evaporate, leaving only the most r
efractory elements like iron. The ice can survive only in the outer part of the
disk.[41]
A protoplanetary disk forming in the Orion Nebula
The main problem in the physics of accretion disks is the generation of turbulen
ce and the mechanism responsible for the high effective viscosity.[4] The turbul
ent viscosity is thought to be responsible for the transport of the mass to the
central protostar and momentum to the periphery of the disk. This is vital for a
ccretion, because the gas can be accreted by the central protostar only if it lo
ses most of its angular momentum, which must be carried away by the small part o
f the gas drifting outwards.[18][19] The result of this process is the growth of
both the protostar and of the disk radius, which can reach 1,000 AU if the init
ial angular momentum of the nebula is large enough.[30] Large disks are routinel
y observed in many star-forming regions such as the Orion nebula.[12]
File:Artists impression of the disc and gas streams around HD 142527 (Animation).
ogg
Artist's impression of the disc and gas streams around young star HD 142527.[42]
The lifespan of the accretion disks is about 10 million years.[11] By the time t
he star reaches the classical T-Tauri stage, the disk becomes thinner and cools.
[35] Less volatile materials start to condense close to its center, forming 0.11 m
dust grains that contain crystalline silicates.[13] The transport of the materi
al from the outer disk can mix these newly formed dust grains with primordial on
es, which contain organic matter and other volatiles. This mixing can explain so
me peculiarities in the composition of solar system bodies such as the presence
of interstellar grains in the primitive meteorites and refractory inclusions in
comets.[41]
Various planet formation processes, including exocomets and other planetesimals,
around Beta Pictoris, a very young type A V star (NASA artist's conception).
Dust particles tend to stick to each other in the dense disk environment, leadin
g to the formation of larger particles up to several centimeters in size.[43] Th
e signatures of the dust processing and coagulation are observed in the infrared
spectra of the young disks.[13] Further aggregation can lead to the formation o
f planetesimals measuring 1 km across or larger, which are the building blocks o
f planets.[4][43] Planetesimal formation is another unsolved problem of disk phy
sics, as simple sticking becomes ineffective as dust particles grow larger.[20]
The favorite hypothesis is formation by the gravitational instability. Particles
several centimeters in size or larger slowly settle near the middle plane of th
e disk, forming a very thinless than 100 kmand dense layer. This layer is gravitat
ionally unstable and may fragment into numerous clumps, which in turn collapse i
nto planetesimals.[4][20]
Planetary formation can also be triggered by gravitational instability within th
e disk itself, which leads to its fragmentation into clumps. Some of them, if th
ey are dense enough, will collapse,[18] which can lead to rapid formation of gas
giant planets and even brown dwarfs on the timescale of 1,000 years.[44] Howeve
r it is only possible in massive disksmore massive than 0.3 solar masses. In comp
arison typical disk masses are 0.010.03 solar masses. Because the massive disks a
re rare, this mechanism of the planet formation is thought to be infrequent.[4][
16] On the other hand, this mechanism may play a major role in the formation of
brown dwarfs.[45]
Asteroid collisionbuilding planets (artist concept).
The ultimate dissipation of protoplanetary disks is triggered by a number of dif
ferent mechanisms. The inner part of the disk is either accreted by the star or
ejected by the bipolar jets,[35][36] whereas the outer part can evaporate under
the star's powerful UV radiation during the T Tauri stage[46] or by nearby stars
.[38] The gas in the central part can either be accreted or ejected by the growi
ng planets, while the small dust particles are ejected by the radiation pressure
of the central star. What is finally left is either a planetary system, a remna
nt disk of dust without planets, or nothing, if planetesimals failed to form.[4]
Because planetesimals are so numerous, and spread throughout the protoplanetary
disk, some survive the formation of a planetary system. Asteroids are understood
to be left-over planetesimals, gradually grinding each other down into smaller
and smaller bits, while comets are typically planetesimals from the farther reac
hes of a planetary system. Meteorites are samples of planetesimals that reach a
planetary surface, and provide a great deal of information about the formation o
f our Solar System. Primitive-type meteorites are chunks of shattered low-mass p
lanetesimals, where no thermal differentiation took place, while processed-type
meteorites are chunks from shattered massive planetesimals.[47]
Formation of planets[edit]
Rocky planets[edit]
According to the solar nebular disk model, rocky planets form in the inner part
of the protoplanetary disk, within the frost line, where the temperature is high
enough to prevent condensation of water ice and other substances into grains.[4
8] This results in coagulation of purely rocky grains and later in the formation
of rocky planetesimals.[c][48] Such conditions are thought to exist in the inne
r 34 AU part of the disk of a sun-like star.[4]
After small planetesimalsabout 1 km in diameterhave formed by one way or another,
runaway accretion begins.[14] It is called runaway because the mass growth rate
is proportional to R4~M4/3, where R and M are the radius and mass of the growing
body, respectively.[49] It is obvious that the specific (divided by mass) growt
h accelerates as the mass increases. This leads to the preferential growth of la
rger bodies at the expense of smaller ones.[14] The runaway accretion lasts betw
een 10,000 and 100,000 years and ends when the largest bodies exceed approximate
ly 1,000 km in diameter.[14] Slowing of the accretion is caused by gravitational
perturbations by large bodies on the remaining planetesimals.[14][49] In additi
on, the influence of larger bodies stops further growth of smaller bodies.[14]
The next stage is called oligarchic accretion.[14] It is characterized by the do
minance of several hundred o