121 research outputs found
On the Degree of Dynamical Packing in the Kepler Multi-planet Systems
Current planet formation theories rely on initially compact orbital
configurations undergoing a (possibly extended) phase of giant impacts
following the dispersal of the dissipative protoplanetary disk. The orbital
architectures of observed mature exoplanet systems have likely been strongly
sculpted by chaotic dynamics, instabilities, and giant impacts. One possible
signature of systems continually reshaped by instabilities and mergers is their
dynamical packing. Early Kepler data showed that many multi-planet systems are
maximally packed - placing an additional planet between an observed pair would
make the system unstable. However, this result relied on placing the inserted
planet in the most optimistic configuration for stability (e.g., circular
orbits). While this would be appropriate in an ordered and dissipative picture
of planet formation (i.e. planets dampen into their most stable
configurations), we argue that this best-case scenario for stability is rarely
realized due to the strongly chaotic nature of planet formation. Consequently,
the degree of dynamical packing in multi-planet systems under a realistic
formation model is likely significantly higher than previously realized. We
examine the full Kepler multi planet sample through this new lens, showing that
~60-95% of Kepler multi-planet systems are strongly packed and that dynamical
packing increases with multiplicity. This may be a signature of dynamical
sculpting or of undetected planets, showing that dynamical packing is an
important metric that can be incorporated into planet formation modelling or
when searching for unseen planets.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Mapping the Outer Edge of the Young Stellar Cluster in the Galactic Center
We present new near-infrared spectroscopic observations of the outer edges of
the young stellar cluster around the supermassive black hole at the Galactic
center. The observations show a break in the surface-density profile of young
stars at approximately 13 arcsec (0.52 pc). These observations
spectroscopically confirm previous suggestions of a break based on photometry.
Using Gemini North's Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrometer (NIFS) we are
able to detect and separate early- and late-type stars with a 75% completeness
at Ks = 15.5. We sample a region with radii between 7" to 23" (0.28 pc to 0.92
pc) from Sgr A*, and present new spectral classifications of 144 stars brighter
than Ks = 15.5, where 140 stars are late-type (> 1 Gyr) and only four stars are
early-type (young, 4-6 Myr). A broken power-law fit of the early-type
surface-density matches well with our data and previously published values. The
projected surface-density of late-type stars is also measured and found to be
consistent with previous results. We find that the observed early-type
surface-density profile is inconsistent with the theory of the young stars
originating from a tightly bound infalling cluster, as no significant trail of
young stars is found at radii above 13". We also note that either a simple disk
instability criterion or a cloud-cloud collision could explain the location of
the outer edge, though we lack information to make conclusive remarks on either
alternative. If this break in surface-density represents an edge to the young
stellar cluster it would set an important scale for the most recent episode of
star formation at the Galactic center.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, ApJ accepte
Migration then assembly: Formation of Neptune mass planets inside 1 AU
We demonstrate that the observed distribution of `Hot Neptune'/`Super-Earth'
systems is well reproduced by a model in which planet assembly occurs in situ,
with no significant migration post-assembly. This is achieved only if the
amount of mass in rocky material is -- interior to 1
AU. Such a reservoir of material implies that significant radial migration of
solid material takes place, and that it occur before the stage of final planet
assembly.
The model not only reproduces the general distribution of mass versus period,
but also the detailed statistics of multiple planet systems in the sample.
We furthermore demonstrate that cores of this size are also likely to meet
the criterion to gravitationally capture gas from the nebula, although
accretion is rapidly limited by the opening of gaps in the gas disk. If the
mass growth is limited by this tidal truncation, then the scenario sketched
here naturally produces Neptune-mass objects with substantial components of
both rock and gas, as is observed.
The quantitative expectations of this scenario are that most planets in the
`Hot Neptune/Super-Earth' class inhabit multiple-planet systems, with
characteristic orbital spacings. The model also provides a natural division
into gas-rich (Hot Neptune) and gas-poor (Super-Earth) classes at fixed period.
The dividing mass ranges from at 10 day orbital periods to
at 100 day orbital periods. For orbital periods
days, the division is less clear because a gas atmosphere may be significantly
eroded by stellar radiation.Comment: 41 pages in preprint style, 15 figures, final version accepted to Ap
Simulated Bars May Be Shorter but Are Not Slower Than Those Observed: TNG50 versus MaNGA
Galactic bars are prominent dynamical structures within disk galaxies whose size, formation time, strength, and pattern speed influence the dynamical evolution of their hosts' galaxies. Yet, their formation and evolution in a cosmological context is not well understood, as cosmological simulation studies have been limited by the classic trade-off between simulation volume and resolution. Here we analyze barred disk galaxies in the cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation TNG50 and quantitatively compare the distributions of bar size and pattern speed to those from MaNGA observations at z = 0. TNG50 galaxies are selected to match the stellar mass and size distributions of observed galaxies, to account for observational selection effects. We find that the high resolution of TNG50 yields bars with a wide range of pattern speeds (including those with ≥ 40 km s^{−1} kpc^{−1}) and a mean value of ∼ 36 km s^{−1} kpc larger than those from observations by only 6 km s^{−1} kpc^{−1}, in contrast with previous lower-resolution cosmological simulations that produced bars that were too slow. We find, however, that the bars in TNG50 are on average ∼35% shorter than observed, although this discrepancy may partly reflect the remaining inconsistencies in the simulation-data comparison. This leads to higher values of in TNG50, but points to simulated bars being too short rather than too slow. After repeating the analysis on the lower-resolution run of the same simulation (with the same physical model), we qualitatively reproduce the results obtained in previous studies: this implies that, along with physical model variations, numerical resolution effects may explain the previously found slowness of simulated bars
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