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Loading contentAn alternative route to giant planets in which a massive, cool region of a protoplanetary disk becomes gravitationally unstable and fragments directly into a bound clump of gas, skipping the slow core-building step. It may account for massive planets on wide orbits that are hard to make by core accretion within the disk's lifetime.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.