Vol. 536
In section 10. Planets and planetary systems

Collisions of inhomogeneous pre-planetesimals

The growth of pre-planetesimals into planetesimals is a fundamental but poorly understood part of the planetary accretion story. Here, Geretshauser et al. use an SPH model to simulate low-velocity collisions between porous pre-planetesimals and examine how the magnitude of heterogeneity affects the outcome. They find that inhomogeneous pre-planetesimals are more prone to destruction than homogeneous aggregates and that even slight inhomogeneities can lower the threshold for catastrophic disruption (see figure, the amplitudes of inhomogeneities increase from a to f).