Part 7/12:
This discovery was a seismic revelation because it strongly suggests that fuzzy cores may be common among gas giants, not just anomalies. Such a paradigm shift implies that the traditional two-step formation process for these planets could be fundamentally incorrect, and many gas giants in our galaxy might possess similar diffuse, mixed structures.
Theories on How Diffuse Cores Form
Given this new evidence, scientists are exploring novel theories on how such fuzzy cores develop. One leading idea is that early in planetary formation, instead of a solid core forming first, heavy materials and gases accumulated simultaneously, resulting in a mixed internal structure from the start.