Astronomers hypothesize that the "hot Jupiters" found orbiting other stars must have migrated inward over time by:
A) losing orbital angular momentum.
B) colliding with another planet.
C) slowly accreting large amounts of gas and increasing their gravitational pull.
D) losing their gas because of evaporation.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Hot Jupiters, which are gas giant exoplanets orbiting very close to their host star, cannot have formed in their current location due to the difficulty of forming gas giants in such close proximity to their star. The most likely explanation is that they formed further out in the protoplanetary disk and then migrated inward to their current location. This migration could have been caused by interactions with other planets, as well as gravitational interactions with the protoplanetary disk, which would have led to a transfer of orbital angular momentum and caused the planet to spiral inward.

Astronomers Hypothesize That the "Hot Jupiters" Found Orbiting Other Stars