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Accretion

by Retsof

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David Bowman
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In astrophysics, the term accretion is used for at least two distinct processes.

The first and most common is the growth of a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter, typically gaseous matter in an accretion disk. Accretion disks are common around smaller stars or stellar remnants in a close binary or black holes in the centers of spiral galaxies. Some dynamics in the disk are necessary to allow orbiting gas to lose angular momentum and fall onto the central massive object. Occasionally, this can result in stellar surface fusion.

The second process is somewhat analogous to the one in atmospheric science. In the nebular theory, accretion refers to the collision and sticking of cooled microscopic dust and ice particles electrostatically, in protoplanetary disks and gas giant protoplanet systems, eventually leading to planetesimals which gravitationally accrete more small particles and other planetesimals.

Use of the term accretion disk for the protoplanetary disk thus leads to confusion over the planetary accretion process, although in many cases it may well be that both accretion processes are happening simultaneously. Tauri is an example of this phenomenon.

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released May 12, 2013

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