Instrumentation Commons^™

The Planetary Luminosity Problem: " Missing Planets" And The Observational Consequences Of Episodi Accretion, Sean D. Brittain, Joan R. Najita, Ruobing Dong, Zhaohuan Zhu

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

The high occurrence rates of spiral arms and large central clearings in protoplanetary disks, if interpreted as signposts of giant planets, indicate that gas giants commonly form as companions to young stars (Myr) at orbital separations of 10–300 au. However, attempts to directly image this giant planet population as companions to more mature stars (>10 Myr) have yielded few successes. This discrepancy could be explained if most giant planets form by "cold start," i.e., by radiating away much of their formation energy as they assemble their mass, rendering them faint enough to elude detection at later times. In that …