A research team led by the University of Bern has provided the first experimental evidence that shear-flow instability occurs under conditions similar to those in planet formation regions. The study used parabolic flights in zero gravity to observe how fine dust particles aggregate into larger building blocks that eventually form planets.
The research addresses a fundamental gap in understanding the earliest stages of planet formation. Scientists have long theorized about how microscopic dust grains in space overcome various forces to stick together and grow into larger structures, but direct experimental evidence has been limited due to the difficulty of recreating space-like conditions.