It is found that Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Jupiter possess, respectively, 3.1, 3.7, 6.4, and 9.1. Eventually, they got so large, they captured a large amount of hydrogen and other gasses from the surrounding nebula with their enormous gravity. Approximate models are derived for the major planets. The cores accreted rapidly into large clumps of ice and rock. The jovian planets, however, formed farther from the Sun where ices and rocks were plentiful. While terrestrial planets accreted from planetesimals made of rocks and metals, they ended up too small to capture significant amounts of the abundant hydrogen and helium gas in the solar nebula. Beyond the frost line, where hydrogen compounds could condense, the solid particles included ices as well as metal and rock. The only solid particles were made of metal and rock. Within the frost line, temperatures were too high for hydrogen ices to form. The frost line marked an important dividing point in the solar nebula. Why are the jovian planets so different from the terrestrial planets? We can trace almost all the differences to the formation of the solar system. The fact that there are two distinct kinds of planetsthe rocky terrestrial planets and the gas-rich jovian planetsleads us to believe that they formed under different conditions.
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