from Part II - Possible Chondrule-Forming Mechanisms
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2018
Chondrule formation and meteorite parent body assembly link the historically geochemically- and petrologically-oriented field of meteoritics to the observationally- and theoretically-oriented field of astrophysics. Laboratory measurements’ high precisions and resolutions constrain planet formation on scales and in parameter spaces inaccessible to even the most powerful telescopes. The dynamic and cosmochemical canvas confronting theoretical and numerical studies of protoplanetary disks and planet formation is too daunting to face without meteoritic signposts. Conversely, with only ancient solid evidence in hand, meteoriticists need astrophysical observations and protoplanetary disk models to give context to their witch’s brew of chemical, isotopic, and petrologic constraints. The ever-increasing wealth of protoplanetary disk observations, along with major advances such as the (re)discovery of the Magneto-Rotational Instability (or MRI), numerical simulations of disk dynamics, and laboratory investigations of dust coagulation have expanded our understanding of protoplanetary disks, leaving us well positioned to review proposed chondrule formation scenarios both from the perspective of astrophysical plausibility (i.e., could they occur and produce melted grains at a meaningful rate), and from a cosmochemical and petrologic perspective (i.e., would the melted grains look like chondrules and be incorporated into chondrite-like planetesimals). In this chapter, we evaluate several chondrule formation scenarios for our own solar system, but one inherent truth in astrophysics is that the universe is large enough for almost any conceivable process to find a home. Potential chondrule-formation mechanisms that fail to make the cut here may yet be important elsewhere.
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