Models of the formation of the planets in the 47 UMa system

Formation of planets in the 47 UMa system is followed in an evolving protoplanetary disk composed of gas and solids. The evolution of the disk is calculated from an early stage, when all solids, assumed to be high-temperature silicates, are in the dust form, to the stage when most solids are locked in planetesimals. The simulation of planetary evolution starts with a solid embryo of ~1 Earth mass, and proceeds according to the core accretion -- gas capture model. Orbital parameters are kept constant, and it is assumed that the environment of each planet is not perturbed by the second planet. It is found that conditions suitable for both planets to form within several Myr are easily created, and maintained throughout the formation time, in disks with $\alpha \approx 0.01$. In such disks, a planet of 2.6 Jupiter masses (the minimum for the inner planet of the 47 UMa system) may be formed at 2.1 AU from the star in \~3 Myr, while a planet of 0.89 Jupiter masses (the minimum for the outer planet) may be formed at 3.95 AU from the star in about the same time. The formation of planets is possible as a result of a significant enhancement of the surface density of solids between 1.0 and 4.0 AU, which results from the evolution of a disk with an initially uniform gas-to-dust ratio of 167 and an initial radius of 40 AU.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 10 pages, 10 figure

Formation of giant planets around stars with various masses

We examine the predictions of the core accretion - gas capture model concerning the efficiency of planet formation around stars with various masses. First, we follow the evolution of gas and solids from the moment when all solids are in the form of small grains to the stage when most of them are in the form of planetesimals. We show that the surface density of the planetesimal swarm tends to be higher around less massive stars. Then, we derive the minimum surface density of the planetesimal swarm required for the formation of a giant planet both in a numerical and in an approximate analytical approach. We combine these results by calculating a set of representative disk models characterized by different masses, sizes, and metallicities, and by estimating their capability of forming giant planets. Our results show that the set of protoplanetary disks capable of giant planet formation is larger for less massive stars. Provided that the distribution of initial disk parameters does not depend too strongly on the mass of the central star, we predict that the percentage of stars with giant planets should increase with decreasing stellar mass. Furthermore, we identify the radial redistribution of solids during the formation of planetesimal swarms as the key element in explaining these effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 9 pages, 9 figure

Formation of giant planets in disks with different metallicities

We present the first results from simulations of processes leading to planet formation in protoplanetary disks with different metallicities. For a given metallicity, we construct a two-dimensional grid of disk models with different initial masses and radii ($M_0$, $R_0$). For each disk, we follow the evolution of gas and solids from an early evolutionary stage, when all solids are in the form of small dust grains, to the stage when most solids have condensed into planetesimals. Then, based on the core accretion - gas capture scenario, we estimate the planet-bearing capability of the environment defined by the final planetesimal swarm and the still evolving gaseous component of the disk. We define the probability of planet-formation, $P_p$, as the normalized fractional area in the ($M_0$, $\log R_0$) plane populated by disks that have formed planets inside 5 AU. With such a definition, and under the assumption that the population of planets discovered at $R$ $<$ 5 AU is not significantly contaminated by planets that have migrated from $R$ $>$ 5 AU, our results agree fairly well with the observed dependence between the probability that a star harbors a planet and the star's metal content. The agreement holds for the disk viscosity parameter $\alpha$ ranging from $10^{-3}$ to $10^{-2}$, and it becomes much poorer when the redistribution of solids relative to the gas is not allowed for during the evolution of model disks.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 6 pages, 6 figure

An alternative look at the snowline in protoplanetary disks

We have calculated an evolution of protoplanetary disk from an extensive set of initial conditions using a time-dependent model capable of simultaneously keeping track of the global evolution of gas and water-ice. A number of simplifications and idealizations allows for an embodiment of gas-particle coupling, coagulation, sedimentation, and evaporation/condensation processes. We have shown that, when the evolution of ice is explicitly included, the location of the snowline has to be calculated directly as the inner edge of the region where ice is present and not as the radius where disk's temperature equals the evaporation temperature of water-ice. The final location of the snowline is set by an interplay between all involved processes and is farther from the star than implied by the location of the evaporation temperature radius. The evolution process naturally leads to an order of magnitude enhancement in surface density of icy material.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 8 pages, 4 figure

The anomalous accretion disk of the Cataclysmic Variable RW Sextantis

Synthetic spectra covering the wavelength range 900\AA~to 3000\AA~provide an accurate fit, established by a ${\chi}_{\nu}^2$ analysis, to a combined observed spectrum of RW Sextantis. Two separately calibrated distances to the system establish the synthetic spectrum comparison on an absolute flux basis but with two alternative scaling factors, requiring alternative values of $\dot{M}$ for final models. Based on comparisons for a range of $\dot{M}$ values, the observed spectrum does not follow the standard model. Rather than the exponent 0.25 in the expression for the radial temperature profile, a value close to 0.125 produces a synthetic spectrum with an accurate fit to the combined spectrum. A study of time-series $FUSE$ spectra shows that a proposed warped or tilted disk is not supported by the data; an alternative proposal is that an observed non-axisymmetric wind results from an interaction with the mass transfer stream debris.Comment: 56 pages, 15 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for The Astrophysical Journa

Orbital and physical parameters of eclipsing binaries from the ASAS catalogue - IV. A 0.61 + 0.45 M_sun binary in a multiple system

We present the orbital and physical parameters of a newly discovered low-mass detached eclipsing binary from the All-Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) database: ASAS J011328-3821.1 A - a member of a visual binary system with the secondary component separated by about 1.4 seconds of arc. The radial velocities were calculated from the high-resolution spectra obtained with the 1.9-m Radcliffe/GIRAFFE, 3.9-m AAT/UCLES and 3.0-m Shane/HamSpec telescopes/spectrographs on the basis of the TODCOR technique and positions of H_alpha emission lines. For the analysis we used V and I band photometry obtained with the 1.0-m Elizabeth and robotic 0.41-m PROMPT telescopes, supplemented with the publicly available ASAS light curve of the system. We found that ASAS J011328-3821.1 A is composed of two late-type dwarfs having masses of M_1 = 0.612 +/- 0.030 M_sun, M_2 = 0.445 +/- 0.019 M_sun and radii of R_1 = 0.596 +/- 0.020 R_sun, R_2 = 0.445 +/- 0.024 R_sun, both show a substantial level of activity, which manifests in strong H_alpha and H_beta emission and the presence of cool spots. The influence of the third light on the eclipsing pair properties was also evaluated and the photometric properties of the component B were derived. Comparison with several popular stellar evolution models shows that the system is on its main sequence evolution stage and probably is more metal rich than the Sun. We also found several clues which suggest that the component B itself is a binary composed of two nearly identical ~0.5 M_sun stars.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 7 tables, to appear in MNRA

2-D models of layered protoplanetary discs: I. The ring instability

In this work we use the radiation hydrodynamic code TRAMP to perform a two-dimensional axially symmetric model of the layered disc. Using this model we follow the accumulation of mass in the dead zone due to the radially varying accretion rate. We found a new type of instability which causes the dead zone to split into rings. This "ring instability" works due to the positive feedback between the thickness of the dead zone and the mass accumulation rate. We give an analytical description of this instability, taking into account non-zero thickness of the dead zone and deviations from the Keplerian rotational velocity. The analytical model agrees reasonably well with results of numerical simulations. Finally, we speculate about the possible role of the ring instability in protoplanetary discs and in the formation of planets.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Orbital and physical parameters of eclipsing binaries from the All-Sky Automated Survey catalogue - IV. A 0.61 + 0.45 M⊙ binary in a multiple system

We present the orbital and physical parameters of a newly discovered low-mass detached eclipsing binary from the All-Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) data base: ASAS J011328–3821.1 A, which is a member of a visual binary system with the secondary component separated by about 1.4 arcsec. The radial velocities have been calculated from the high-resolution spectra obtained with the 1.9-m Radcliffe telescope/Grating Instrument for Radiation Analysis with a Fibre-Fed Echelle (GIRAFFE) spectrograph, the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT)/University College London Echelle Spectrograph (UCLES) and the 3.0-m Shane telescope/Hamilton Spectrograph (HamSpec) on the basis of the TODCOR technique and the positions of the Hα emission lines. For the analysis, we have used V- and I-band photometry obtained with the 1.0-m Elizabeth telescope and the 0.41-m Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes (PROMPT), supplemented with the publicly available ASAS light curve of the system. We have found that ASAS J011328–3821.1 A is composed of two late-type dwarfs, which have masses of M1 = 0.612 ± 0.030 M⊙ and M2 = 0.445 ± 0.019 M⊙ and radii of R1 = 0.596 ± 0.020 R⊙ and R2 = 0.445 ± 0.024 R⊙. Both show a substantial level of activity, which manifests in strong Hα and Hβ emission and the presence of cool spots. The influence of the third light on the eclipsing pair properties has also been evaluated and the photometric properties of component B have been derived. A comparison with several popular stellar evolution models shows that the system is on its main-sequence evolution stage and that it is probably more metal-rich than the Sun. We have also found several clues to suggest that component B itself is a binary composed of two nearly identical ∼0.5-M⊙ stars

Diversity of planetary systems from evolution of solids in protoplanetary disks

We have developed and applied a model designed to track simultaneously the evolution of gas and solids in protoplanetary disks from an early stage, when all solids are in the dust form, to the stage when most solids are in the form of a planetesimal swarm. The model is computationally efficient and allows for a global, comprehensive approach to the evolution of solid particles due to gas-solid coupling, coagulation, sedimentation, and evaporation/condensation. The co-evolution of gas and solids is calculated for 107 yr for several evolution regimes and starting from a comprehensive domain of initial conditions. The output of a single evolutionary run is a spatial distribution of mass locked in a planetesimal swarm. Because swarm's mass distribution is related to the architecture of a nascent planetary system, diversity of swarms is taken as a proxy for a diversity of planetary systems. We have found that disks with low values of specific angular momentum are bled out of solids and do not form planetary systems. Disks with high and intermediate values of specific angular momentum form diverse planetary systems. Solar-like planetary systems form from disks with initial masses ≤0.02 $M_{\odot}$ and angular momenta ≤ $3\times 10^{52}$ g cm2 s-1. Planets more massive than Jupiter can form at locations as close as $1$ AU from the central star according to our model