Planet Formation—Observational Constraints, Physical Processes, and Compositional Patterns

Abstract

A general theory of planet formation has been a topic of intense study over many years. The interest in such a theory emerges naturally from asking the question of where our planet came from. However, a general picture is also required which explains not only the planet Earth but the whole Solar System with its diverse planets. Moreover, after the first discovery of an exoplanet around a Sun-like star (Mayor and Queloz 1995) the exoplanet revolution added numerous additional constraints from thousands of systems of planets orbiting stars different than the Sun.The goal of planet formation as...