Volume 87, Issue 10 p. 105-109
Free Access

Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas: Protoplanets, not asteroids

Thomas B. McCord

Thomas B. McCord

Bear Fight Center, Space Science Institute, Winthrop, Washington

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Lucy A. McFadden

Lucy A. McFadden

University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

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Christopher T. Russell

Christopher T. Russell

Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles

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Christophe Sotin

Christophe Sotin

Laboratory de Planetologie et Geodynamique, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

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Peter C. Thomas

Peter C. Thomas

Cornell University,Ithaca, New York

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First published: 03 June 2011
Citations: 22

Abstract

Objects in our solar system are currently thought to have formed by condensation and accumulation from the gas and dust nebula, out of which the Sun first arose. Dust grains accreted to form objects of approximately one-kilometer in size, which in turn accreted to form objects of about 1000 kilometers in size. Some of these objects grew to become the planets, and formed a core, mantle, and crust layers through radioactive heating, which melted some or all of the material, and subsequent differentiation.The development of large planets caused gravity perturbations, rearranging the remaining debris and halting the accretion.