Why Do Planet And Stars Come In Different Sizes?

Space





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The Solar System, illustrated in this artist's conception, contains both large and small objects. Researchers from Duke have proposed a new explanation for why the size diversity exists. NASA

The evolution of celestial bodies takes a very long time, so our understanding of how planets and stars form is still incomplete. Now a new approach is trying to fill some gaps.

Professor Adrian Bejan of Duke University, North Carolina, and his student, Russell Wagstaff, aimed to answer why planets, stars, and other bodies come in all shapes and sizes, rather than all being the same size if matter is evenly distributed. They suggest that a system reaches equilibirum much faster when objects form to be different sizes, known as hierarchy, and so it will usually go down this route.