Computer simulation of formation of terrestrial planets from planetesimals

A computer simulation of the accumulation of planetesimals into terrestrial planets is made on a model of the early solar system based on Refs. 1, 2]. The results show that, through the process of collisional coalescence, planetesimals gathered into a small number of large planets moving in nearly coplanar circular orbits. With suitable choice of the initial orbital elements and system parameters, results in general agreement with the actual system can be obtained.