[meteorite-list] Scientists say solar system simulations show some strange stable situations

[Darren Garrison]

http://arxiv.org/abs/0808.1439v1

Gas disks to gas giants: Simulating the birth of planetary systems
Authors: Edward W. Thommes, Soko Matsumura, Frederic A. Rasio
(Submitted on 11 Aug 2008)

    Abstract: The ensemble of now more than 250 discovered planetary systems
displays a wide range of masses, orbits and, in multiple systems, dynamical
interactions. These represent the end point of a complex sequence of events,
wherein an entire protostellar disk converts itself into a small number of
planetary bodies. Here, we present self-consistent numerical simulations of this
process, which produce results in agreement with some of the key trends observed
in the properties of the exoplanets. Analogs to our own solar system do not
appear to be common, originating from disks near the boundary between barren and
(giant) planet-forming. 

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0808/0808.1439v1.pdf