Quote:
Originally Posted by RalofTyr
Hmmm, the Titus-Bode law seems to be similar to the "Gas Giants only exist in the ice belt" way of thinking that all solar systems will be similar to ours. The article is trying to make 55 Can., fit into our mode of thinking of planet formation, which is looking to be incorrect due to our system bias.
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I will say this now. If this Titius-Bode pattern turns out to be fairly common for well-behaved systems with multiple planets with circular orbits confined to one plane, it will have significant implications for planetary formation theory because it will evetually have to be admitted that gas giants can form much closer to their parent stars than was previously thought. My theory is that the reason the Sol system inner planets are rocky is because, paradoxically, there never was much rocky material within the inner solar system. The metallicity is much higher at 55 Cancri; this allowed big, rocky cores to form near the star capable of holding onto massive atmospheres of light elements in situ.