2,852 research outputs found
Migration of giant planets in planetesimal discs
Planets orbiting a planetesimal circumstellar disc can migrate inward from
their initial positions because of dynamical friction between planets and
planetesimals. The migration rate depends on the disc mass and on its time
evolution. Planets that are embedded in long-lived planetesimal discs, having
total mass of , can migrate inward a large distance and
can survive only if the inner disc is truncated or because of tidal interaction
with the star. In this case the semi-major axis, a, of the planetary orbit is
less than 0.1 AU. Orbits with larger are obtained for smaller value of the
disc mass or for a rapid evolution (depletion) of the disc. This model may
explain several of the orbital features of the giant planets that were
discovered in last years orbiting nearby stars as well as the metallicity
enhancement found in several stars associated with short-period planets.Comment: 21 pages; 6 encapsulated figures. Accepted by MNRA
Precision radial velocities of double-lined spectroscopic binaries with an iodine absorption cell
A spectroscopic technique employing an iodine absorption cell (I_2) to
superimpose a reference spectrum onto a stellar spectrum is currently the most
widely adopted approach to obtain precision radial velocities of solar-type
stars. It has been used to detect ~80 extrasolar planets out of ~130 know. Yet
in its original version, it only allows us to measure precise radial velocities
of single stars. In this paper, we present a novel method employing an I_2
absorption cell that enables us to accurately determine radial velocities of
both components of double-lined binaries. Our preliminary results based on the
data from the Keck I telescope and HIRES spectrograph demonstrate that 20-30
m/s radial velocity precision can be routinely obtained for "early" type
binaries (F3-F8). For later type binaries, the precision reaches ~10 m/s. We
discuss applications of the technique to stellar astronomy and searches for
extrasolar planets in binary systems. In particular, we combine the
interferometric data collected with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer with our
preliminary precision velocities of the spectroscopic double-lined binary HD
4676 to demonstrate that with such a combination one can routinely obtain
masses of the binary components accurate at least at the level of 1.0%.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Planetary Formation Scenarios Revistied: Core-Accretion Versus Disk Instability
The core-accretion and disk instability models have so far been used to
explain planetary formation. These models have different conditions, such as
planet mass, disk mass, and metallicity for formation of gas giants. The
core-accretion model has a metallicity condition ([Fe/H] > −1.17 in the
case of G-type stars), and the mass of planets formed is less than 6 times that
of the Jupiter mass MJ. On the other hand, the disk instability model does not
have the metallicity condition, but requires the disk to be 15 times more
massive compared to the minimum mass solar nebulae model. The mass of planets
formed is more than 2MJ. These results are compared to the 161 detected planets
for each spectral type of the central stars. The results show that 90% of the
detected planets are consistent with the core-accretion model regardless of the
spectral type. The remaining 10% are not in the region explained by the
core-accretion model, but are explained by the disk instability model. We
derived the metallicity dependence of the formation probability of gas giants
for the core-accretion model. Comparing the result with the observed fraction
having gas giants, they are found to be consistent. On the other hand, the
observation cannot be explained by the disk instability model, because the
condition for gas giant formation is independent of the metallicity.
Consequently, most of planets detected so far are thought to have been formed
by the core-accretion process, and the rest by the disk instability process.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
Molecular Line Emission from Gravitationally Unstable Protoplanetary Disks
In the era of high resolution submillimeter interferometers, it will soon be
possible to observe the neutral circumstellar medium directly involved in gas
giant planet (GGP) formation at physical scales previously unattainable. In
order to explore possible signatures of gas giant planet formation via disk
instabilities, we have combined a 3D, non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE)
radiative transfer code with a 3D, finite differences hydrodynamical code to
model molecular emission lines from the vicinity of a 1.4 M_J self-gravitating
proto-GGP. Here, we explore the properties of rotational transitions of the
commonly observed dense gas tracer, HCO+. Our main results are the following:
1. Very high lying HCO+ transitions (e.g. HCO+ J=7-6) can trace dense planet
forming clumps around circumstellar disks. Depending on the molecular
abundance, the proto-GGP may be directly imageable by the Atacama Large
Millimeter Array (ALMA). 2. HCO+ emission lines are heavily self-absorbed
through the proto-GGP's dense molecular core. This signature is nearly
ubiquitous, and only weakly dependent on assumed HCO+ abundances. The
self-absorption features are most pronounced at higher angular resolutions.
Dense clumps that are not self-gravitating only show minor self-absorption
features. 3. Line temperatures are highest through the proto-GGP at all assumed
abundances and inclination angles. Conversely, due to self-absorption in the
line, the velocity-integrated intensity may not be. High angular resolution
interferometers such as the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and ALMA may be able to
differentiate between competing theories of gas giant planet formation.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures; Accepted by Ap
Substellar companions and isolated planetary mass objects from protostellar disc fragmentation
Self-gravitating protostellar discs are unstable to fragmentation if the gas
can cool on a time scale that is short compared to the orbital period. We use a
combination of hydrodynamic simulations and N-body orbit integrations to study
the long term evolution of a fragmenting disc with an initial mass ratio to the
star of M_disc/M_star = 0.1. For a disc which is initially unstable across a
range of radii, a combination of collapse and subsequent accretion yields
substellar objects with a spectrum of masses extending (for a Solar mass star)
up to ~0.01 M_sun. Subsequent gravitational evolution ejects most of the lower
mass objects within a few million years, leaving a small number of very massive
planets or brown dwarfs in eccentric orbits at moderately small radii. Based on
these results, systems such as HD 168443 -- in which the companions are close
to or beyond the deuterium burning limit -- appear to be the best candidates to
have formed via gravitational instability. If massive substellar companions
originate from disc fragmentation, while lower-mass planetary companions
originate from core accretion, the metallicity distribution of stars which host
massive substellar companions at radii of ~1 au should differ from that of
stars with lower mass planetary companions.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA
An m sin i = 24 Earth Mass Planetary Companion To The Nearby M Dwarf GJ 176
We report the detection of a planetary companion with a minimum mass of m sin
i = 0.0771 M_Jup = 24.5 M_Earth to the nearby (d = 9.4 pc) M2.5V star GJ 176.
The star was observed as part of our M dwarf planet search at the Hobby-Eberly
Telescope (HET). The detection is based on 5 years of high-precision
differential radial velocity (RV) measurements using the
High-Resolution-Spectrograph (HRS). The orbital period of the planet is 10.24
d. GJ 176 thus joins the small (but increasing) sample of M dwarfs hosting
short-periodic planets with minimum masses in the Neptune-mass range. Low mass
planets could be relatively common around M dwarfs and the current detections
might represent the tip of a rocky planet population.Comment: 13 pages preprint, 3 figures, submitted to Ap
Carbon-Based Ocean Productivity and Phytoplankton Physiology from Space
Ocean biogeochemical and ecosystem processes are linked by net primary production (NPP) in the ocean\u27s surface layer, where inorganic carbon is fixed by photosynthetic processes. Determinations of NPP are necessarily a function of phytoplankton biomass and its physiological status, but the estimation of these two terms from space has remained an elusive target. Here we present new satellite ocean color observations of phytoplankton carbon (C) and chlorophyll (Chl) biomass and show that derived Chl:C ratios closely follow anticipated physiological dependencies on light, nutrients, and temperature. With this new information, global estimates of phytoplankton growth rates (mu) and carbon-based NPP are made for the first time. Compared to an earlier chlorophyll-based approach, our carbon-based values are considerably higher in tropical oceans, show greater seasonality at middle and high latitudes, and illustrate important differences in the formation and demise of regional algal blooms. This fusion of emerging concepts from the phycological and remote sensing disciplines has the potential to fundamentally change how we model and observe carbon cycling in the global oceans
Evolved stars hint to an external origin of enhanced metallicity in planet-hosting stars
Exo-planets are preferentially found around high metallicity main sequence
stars. We aim at investigating whether evolved stars share this property, and
what this tells about planet formation. Statistical tools and the basic
concepts of stellar evolution theory are applied to published results as well
as our own radial velocity and chemical analyses of evolved stars. We show that
the metal distributions of planet-hosting (P-H) dwarfs and giants are
different, and that the latter do not favor metal-rich systems. Rather, these
stars follow the same age-metallicity relation as the giants without planets in
our sample. The straightforward explanation is to attribute the difference
between dwarfs and giants to the much larger masses of giants' convective
envelopes. If the metal excess on the main sequence is due to pollution, the
effects of dilution naturally explains why it is not observed among evolved
stars. Although we cannot exclude other explanations, the lack of any
preference for metal-rich systems among P-H giants could be a strong indication
of the accretion of metal-rich material. We discuss further tests, as well as
some predictions and consequences of this hypothesis.Comment: A&A, in pres
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