What process, rooted in the Nebular Hypothesis, creates planetesimals from microscopic dust and pebbles?
Answer
The initial attraction of microscopic particles leading to clumping
The formation process begins within the solar nebula, which collapses into a disk around the central proto-Sun. The initial growth stage involves microscopic particles attracting each other through weak forces, akin to static cling. These particles gradually aggregate into pebbles, and then larger clumps. Once these aggregates attain a size of several kilometers across, they cease to be merely debris and are formally classified as planetesimals. This process establishes the dense population of bodies that will later engage in gravitational accretion.
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