Assistant researcher, Xiao, Lin, at Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory has recently carried out research on time evolution of the water snowline in primary protoplanetary disc, with results that revealed the relationship between the evolutionary characteristics of water snowlines and the physical properties of molecular cloud cores. The results are published in the <Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society> （MNRAS , 2017, 467, 2869）.

A snow line is the volatilization interface of the primary protoplanetary disc (such as H₂O). Its location depends on the local temperature of the disc. The evolution of a snow line has an important influence on planet formation. The enhancement of the solid surface density near a snowline promotes the formation of planetesimals and then accelerates the solid core growth of gas giant planets. Furthermore, the location of a snowline also has influence on the exoplanetary atmospheres.

Article link: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/2968006/Time

                                            Time evolution of the snowline