The Origin and Evolution of Saturn, with Exoplanet Perspective

Understand

Saturn formed beyond the snow line in the primordial solar nebula that made it possible for it to accrete a large mass.

• Disk instability and core accretion models have been proposed for Saturn's formation, but core accretion is favored on the basis of its volatile abundances, internal structure, hydrodynamic models, chemical characteristics of protoplanetary disk, etc.
• The observed frequency, properties and models of exoplanets provide additional supporting evidence for core accretion.
• The heavy elements with mass greater than 4He make up the core of Saturn, but are presently poorly constrained, except for carbon.