A metallicity sweet spot for disc fragmentation and planet formation
Clicks: 4
ID: 325364
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This
article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score —
reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
Reader Engagement
Emerging Content
0.9
/100
4 views
3 readers
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
EmergingRanked #753 of 913 articles by views in monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Most read
Least read
Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 913 in total.
Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet mintedCreate a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.
5
SUSD
one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract Fragmentation of gravitationally unstable discs offers an alternate formation mechanism for gas giant planets and brown dwarfs on wide orbits. Metallicity plays a key role in disc evolution from the onset of gravitational instability to the formation of planets. We aim to determine the effect of metallicity on disc fragmentation and on the properties of disc-instability planets. We model gravitationally unstable discs with varying metallicity ($0.01-10\, \rm {Z_{\odot }}$) using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics code phantom. Our simulations reveal a “sweet spot” for fragmentation at $0.3\, \rm {Z_{\odot }}$, where cooling is most efficient, with fragmentation also happening less vigorously at higher and lower metallicities. However, further away from the sweet spot, fragmentation becomes more difficult and is eventually suppressed at extreme low and high metallicities ($0.01\, \rm {Z_{\odot }}$ and $10\, \rm {Z_{\odot }}$, respectively), where the disc cools inefficiently. Discs with metallicities close to the sweet spot form more planets per disc, faster, and with lower initial masses than fragmenting discs with higher or lower metallicities. Our results may explain the slight overabundance of wide-orbit giant planets observed around metal-poor stars; these planets may have formed via disc fragmentation.
| Reference Key |
openalex_W7203838047
Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using
SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
|
|---|---|
| Authors | Ethan J Carter, Dimitris Stamatellos, George A. Blaylock-Squibbs, Alison K. Young, Ken Rice |
| Journal | monthly notices of the royal astronomical society |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1093/mnras/stag1581
|
| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
Citations
No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.