AstroGrav Help /Sample Simulations /Abstract Systems /Protoplanets 3D - 1Version 5.3

Protoplanets 3D - 1

This simulation shows a central star together with 400 identical protoplanets, which are free to move in three dimensions, and so are not constrained to move within a plane. It was created by making a new simulation, and then using the Edit / Add Family... command with the '3D Protoplanetary Disk' quick setup, edited to a radius of 3.0e7 m, a luminosity of 4.0e23 W, and a mass of 8.0e24 kg.

If you set the simulation running, you can watch how it evolves, and see how the protoplanets slowly gather together to form planets under the influence of their mutual gravity. The speed of the simulation is quite slow at first, but rapidly speeds up as the number of objects decreases - it may take quite a while for it to reach a stable final state with only a few planets. You can speed it up significantly as it evolves by making the evolution time step longer and longer so that your computer spends more of its time calculating the next state of the system and less of its time refreshing the screen display.

It is interesting to compare this simulation with the other 'Protoplanets' sample simulations - particularly how quite small differences in the way the protoplanets are created can have a major influence on the speed and way that the system evolves, and the stable final state that is reached.

Since different computers run at different speeds, you may need to edit the evolution time step to get the simulation to run at an acceptable rate.