My mental model of gravity as it works in space makes it hard to understand how gas starts to collect together enough to create something like Jupiter with such incredible mass, but still be just gas.
It’s not just gas. According to the article, it possibly started with a rocky core about 10x the size of the earth, and was in an ideal position far enough from the sun to accumulate an enormous amount of gas.
My mental model of gravity as it works in space makes it hard to understand how gas starts to collect together enough to create something like Jupiter with such incredible mass, but still be just gas.
It’s not just gas. According to the article, it possibly started with a rocky core about 10x the size of the earth, and was in an ideal position far enough from the sun to accumulate an enormous amount of gas.