Story perspectives

Simulated Jupiter Ring Forms All Carbonaceous Chondrite Types

5/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Max Planck Institute simulated a dust ring beyond Jupiter that acted as a planetesimal nursery.
The ring trapped pebbles and formed planetesimals for two million years after the Solar System began.
The planetesimals matched six carbonaceous chondrite groups—CO, CV, CM, TL, CI, CR—as successive generations.
A rapid (<0.1 Myr) shift during gas-disk thinning created matrix-poor CR then matrix-rich CI bodies, indicating a transition from rigid to fragile dust.

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Story summary

The Max Planck Institute simulated a dust ring beyond Jupiter that acted as a planetesimal nursery.
The ring trapped pebbles and formed planetesimals for two million years after the Solar System began.
The planetesimals matched six carbonaceous chondrite groups—CO, CV, CM, TL, CI, CR—as successive generations.
A rapid (<0.1 Myr) shift during gas-disk thinning created matrix-poor CR then matrix-rich CI bodies, indicating a transition from rigid to fragile dust.