Introduction

These simulations of planetary migration through a circumstellar disc of gas are an output from detailed mathematical models by Dr Frederic Masset of Saclay, France. You should first view them in the order they are presented here, looking out for the features described. You can then review them in any order you like. The primary outcome is (we hope) a better understanding of what planetary migration and the associated disc structures look like.

Note that black regions at the centre of each simulation are not meant to imply that there is no gas there, but are a short cut in the modelling whereby the effects of the gas disc very close to the star can be ignored.