Ice line
The ice line or snow line in a protoplanetary disk describes the distance from the protostar at which the temperature reaches a value at which water desublimates ice from the gas in the disk (at pressures below approx. 6 mbar, water no longer exists in liquid form, but only as gas / steam or ice).
When planets are formed , the ice line separates the inner area, in which rock planets are formed, from the outer area, in which gas planets can condense. Beyond the ice-line also can icy moons formed.
This distance depends on
- the radiation intensity of the protostar
- the accretion rate
- the opacity of the pane
- the density of the disk.
The temperature is in a range from 145 to 170 Kelvin (i.e. approx. −128 to −103 ° C), depending on the partial pressure of the water vapor at the location of the ice line.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christian Clanton: ICE LINES IN CIRCUMBINARY PROTOPLANETARY DISKS . In: Astrophysics. Solar and Stellar Astrophysics . 2013, arxiv : 1303.2655v1 .
- ^ A. Gould et al .: Frequency of Solar-Like Systems and of Ice and Gas Giants Beyond the Snow Line from High-Magnification Microlensing Events in 2005-2008 . In: Astrophysics. Solar and Stellar Astrophysics . 2010, arxiv : 1001.0572v1 .