2007MNRAS.376L..62B

Today, many extrasolar planets have been detected. Some of them exhibit properties quite different from the planets in our Solar system and they have eluded attempts to explain their formation. One such case is HD149026b. It was discovered by Sato et al. A transit-determined orbital inclination results in a total mass of. The unusually small radius can be explained by a condensible element core with an inferred mass of for the best-fitting theoretical model.

In the core accretion model, giant planets are assumed to form around a growing core of condensible materials. With increasing core mass, the amount of gravitationally bound envelope mass increases. This continues up to the so-called critical core mass - the largest core allowing a hydrostatic envelope. For larger cores, the lack of static solutions forces a dynamic evolution of the protoplanet, accreting large amounts of gas or ejecting the envelope in the process. This would prevent the formation of HD149026b.

By studying all possible hydrostatic equilibria we could show that HD149026b can remain hydrostatic up to the inferred heavy core. This is possible if it is formed in situ in a relatively low-pressure nebula. This formation process is confirmed by fluid-dynamic calculations using the environmental conditions as determined by the hydrostatic models.

We present a quantitative in situ formation scenario for the massive core planet HD149026b. Furthermore, we predict a wide range of possible core masses for close-in planets like HD149026b. This is different from migration, where typical critical core masses should be expected.