Scientists Discover Newborn Planets Resemble Smarties, Not Spheres

A groundbreaking study using computer simulations reveals that young planets have flattened shapes, challenging long-held assumptions about their spherical form.

• Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) used computer simulations to model the formation of planets, finding they initially have a Smartie-like shape.
• The study introduces the concept of disk instability, suggesting planets form quickly from the fragmentation of dense gas and dust discs around young stars.
• Young planets are significantly flatter than older ones, with some being flattened by up to 90%, compared to Earth's 0.3%.
• The discovery could help explain the formation of planets in distant solar systems, offering insights into the thousands of exoplanets observed over the last three decades.
• This research, published in the Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters journal, may support the disk instability theory over the core accretion model for planet formation.

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