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MicroJovian Type

Small hydrogen/helium worlds from 10 x Earth's Mass to 0.08 x Jupiter's mass

New Luna (beta Virginis)
Image from Steve Bowers
New Luna, a microjovian in the Beta Virginis system
These worlds have masses between 0.03 and 0.08 that of Jupiter and are intermediate in size between Superterrestrial worlds and the larger gas giants. Many gaseous protoplanets of this kind form very early on in the development of a planetary system, but most are incorporated by larger objects, ejected by larger objects into interstellar space to become Stevensonian worlds, destroyed during collisions or evaporate after the star ignites.

Small worlds of this kind are most common in the colder outer regions around stars with low-metallicity. Some microjovians occur in the warmer, inner regions of planetary systems, and may be warm (the micro-hydrojovian subtype) or even hot (epistellar microjovian subtype).
 
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Planetology
 
Development Notes
Text by John M. Dollan in his Planet Classification List
Initially published on 08 December 2001.

 
 
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