Diversidad de sistemas planetarios sin gigantes gaseosos en discos de baja masa

Como indica el título de esta tesis, el objetivo general de nuestro trabajo es poder analizar la diversidad de sistemas planetarios que podrían formarse alrededor de estrellas de tipo solar y sin gigantes gaseosos. Nuestro interés particular es estudiar estos sistemas en discos de baja masa, pues podemos asegurar que en ellos no hay posibilidad de formar planetas gigantes gaseosos. Para poder lograr este análisis desarrollamos simulaciones de N-cuerpos orientadas a estudiar el proceso de formación de planetas terrestres. Las simulaciones tienen en cuenta distintos escenarios, consideran discos protoplanetarios con diferentes perfiles de densidad superficial y utilizan distintas configuraciones físicas y orbitales para formar los sistemas planetarios. Luego, el objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar la potencial habitabilidad de los planetas terrestres que se forman en dichos sistemas y tratar de determinar teóricamente si son blancos de interés observacional. Básicamente nuestro estudio está orientado a responder la siguiente pregunta: ¿si existiera la posibilidad de observar sistemas formados únicamente por planetas de tipo terrestre, sería interesante estudiarlos en detalle?, ¿son los sistemas planetarios con sólo planetas terrestres blancos de interés astrobiológico?, ¿valdría la pena orientar nuestros grandes telescopios e instrumentos a este tipo de sistemas?Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Diversidad de sistemas planetarios sin gigantes gaseosos en discos de baja masa

Como indica el título de esta tesis, el objetivo general de nuestro trabajo es poder analizar la diversidad de sistemas planetarios que podrían formarse alrededor de estrellas de tipo solar y sin gigantes gaseosos. Nuestro interés particular es estudiar estos sistemas en discos de baja masa, pues podemos asegurar que en ellos no hay posibilidad de formar planetas gigantes gaseosos. Para poder lograr este análisis desarrollamos simulaciones de N-cuerpos orientadas a estudiar el proceso de formación de planetas terrestres. Las simulaciones tienen en cuenta distintos escenarios, consideran discos protoplanetarios con diferentes perfiles de densidad superficial y utilizan distintas configuraciones físicas y orbitales para formar los sistemas planetarios. Luego, el objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar la potencial habitabilidad de los planetas terrestres que se forman en dichos sistemas y tratar de determinar teóricamente si son blancos de interés observacional. Básicamente nuestro estudio está orientado a responder la siguiente pregunta: ¿si existiera la posibilidad de observar sistemas formados únicamente por planetas de tipo terrestre, sería interesante estudiarlos en detalle?, ¿son los sistemas planetarios con sólo planetas terrestres blancos de interés astrobiológico?, ¿valdría la pena orientar nuestros grandes telescopios e instrumentos a este tipo de sistemas?Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Diversidad de sistemas planetarios sin gigantes gaseosos en discos de baja masa

Como indica el título de esta tesis, el objetivo general de nuestro trabajo es poder analizar la diversidad de sistemas planetarios que podrían formarse alrededor de estrellas de tipo solar y sin gigantes gaseosos. Nuestro interés particular es estudiar estos sistemas en discos de baja masa, pues podemos asegurar que en ellos no hay posibilidad de formar planetas gigantes gaseosos. Para poder lograr este análisis desarrollamos simulaciones de N-cuerpos orientadas a estudiar el proceso de formación de planetas terrestres. Las simulaciones tienen en cuenta distintos escenarios, consideran discos protoplanetarios con diferentes perfiles de densidad superficial y utilizan distintas configuraciones físicas y orbitales para formar los sistemas planetarios. Luego, el objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar la potencial habitabilidad de los planetas terrestres que se forman en dichos sistemas y tratar de determinar teóricamente si son blancos de interés observacional. Básicamente nuestro estudio está orientado a responder la siguiente pregunta: ¿si existiera la posibilidad de observar sistemas formados únicamente por planetas de tipo terrestre, sería interesante estudiarlos en detalle?, ¿son los sistemas planetarios con sólo planetas terrestres blancos de interés astrobiológico?, ¿valdría la pena orientar nuestros grandes telescopios e instrumentos a este tipo de sistemas?Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Formation of Solar system analogues – II: Post-gas-phase growthand water accretion in extended discs via N-body simulations

This work is the second part of a project that attempts to analyse the formation of Solar system analogues (SSAs) from the gaseous to the post-gas phase, in a self-consistently way. In the first paper (PI) we presented our model of planet formation during the gaseous phase which provided us with embryo distributions, planetesimal surface density, eccentricity, and inclination profiles of SSAs, considering different planetesimal sizes and type I migration rates at the time the gas dissipates. In this second work we focus on the late accretion stage of SSAs using the results obtained in PI as initial conditions to carry out N-body simulations. One of our interests is to analyse the formation of rocky planets and their final water contents within the habitable zone. Our results show that the formation of potentially habitable planets (PHPs) seems to be a common process in this kind of scenarios. However, the efficiency in forming PHPs is directly related to the size of the planetesimals. The smaller the planetesimals, the greater the efficiency in forming PHPs. We also analyse the sensitivity of our results to scenarios with type I migration rates and gap-opening giants, finding that both phenomena act in a similar way. These effects seem to favour the formation of PHPs for small planetesimal scenarios and to be detrimental for scenarios formed from big planetesimals. Finally, another interesting result is that the formation of water-rich PHPs seems to be more common than the formation of dry PHPs.Fil: Ronco, María Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: de Elia, Gonzalo Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin

Terrestrial-type planet formation : Comparing different types of initial conditions

Context. The initial distributions of planetary embryos and planetesimals used in N-body simulations play an important role for studies of the terrestrial-type planet formation during the post oligarchic growth. In general, most of these studies typically use ad hoc initial distributions based primarily on theoretical and numerical studies. Aims. We analyze the formation of planetary systems without gas giants around solar-type stars by focusing on the sensitivity of the results to the particular initial distributions used for planetesimals and planetary embryos at the end of the gas phase of the protoplanetary disk. The formation process of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone (HZ) and their final water contents are also topics of special interest in this work. Methods. We developed two different sets of N-body simulations starting with the same protoplanetary disk. The first set assumes typical ad hoc initial distributions for embryos and planetesimals, and the second set obtains these initial distributions from the results of a semi-analytical model that simulates the evolution of the protoplanetary disk during the gaseous phase. Results. The two sets of simulations form planets within the HZ. Using ad hoc initial conditions, the masses of the planets that remain in the HZ range from 0.66 M⊕ to 2.27 M⊕. Using more realistic initial conditions obtained from a semi-analytical model, we found that the masses of the planets range from 1.18 M⊕ to 2.21 M⊕. Both sets of simulations form planets in the HZ with water contents ranging between 4.5% and 39.48% by mass. The planets that have the highest water contents with respect to those with the lowest water contents present differences regarding the sources of water supply. Conclusions. From comparing the two sets of simulations, we suggest that the number of planets that remain in the HZ is not sensitive to the particular initial distribution of embryos and planetesimals, and therefore the results are globally similar between them. However, the main differences observed between the two sets are associated with the accretion history of the planets in the HZ. These discrepancies have a direct impact on the accretion of water-rich material and the physical characteristics of the resulting planets.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

The formation of giant planets in wide orbits by photoevaporation-synchronised migration

The discovery of giant planets in wide orbits represents a major challenge for planet formation theory. In the standard core accretion paradigm planets are expected to form at radial distances ≾ 20 au in order to form massive cores (with masses ≿ 10 M®) able to trigger the gaseous runaway growth before the dissipation of the disc. This has encouraged authors to find modifications of the standard scenario as well as alternative theories like the formation of planets by gravitational instabilities in the disc to explain the existence of giant planets in wide orbits. However, there is not yet consensus on how these systems are formed. In this letter, we present a new natural mechanism for the formation of giant planets in wide orbits within the core accretion paradigm. If photoevaporation is considered, after a few Myr of viscous evolution a gap in the gaseous disc is opened. We found that, under particular circumstances planet migration becomes synchronised with the evolution of the gap, which results in an efficient outward planet migration. This mechanism is found to allow the formation of giant planets with masses Mp ≾ "1MJuo" in wide stable orbits as large as ~130 au from the central star.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

Formation of solar system analogues : I. Looking for initial conditions through a population synthesis analysis

Population synthesis models of planetary systems developed during the last ∼15 yr could reproduce several of the observables of the exoplanet population, and also allowed us to constrain planetary formation models.We present our planet formation model, which calculates the evolution of a planetary system during the gaseous phase. The code incorporates relevant physical phenomena for the formation of a planetary system, like photoevaporation, planet migration, gas accretion, water delivery in embryos and planetesimals, a detailed study of the orbital evolution of the planetesimal population, and the treatment of the fusion between embryos, considering their atmospheres. The main goal of this work, unlike other works of planetary population synthesis, is to find suitable scenarios and physical parameters of the disc to form Solar system analogues.We are specially interested in the final planet distributions, and in the final surface density, eccentricity and inclination profiles for the planetesimal population. These final distributions will be used as initial conditions for N-body simulations to study the post-oligarchic formation in a second work. We then consider different formation scenarios, with different planetesimal sizes and different type I migration rates. We find that Solar system analogues are favoured in massive discs, with low type I migration rates, and small planetesimal sizes. Besides, those rocky planets within their habitables zones are dry when discs dissipate. At last, the final configurations of Solar system analogues include information about the mass and semimajor axis of the planets, water contents, and the properties of the planetesimal remnants.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasInstituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

Diversity of planetary systems in low-mass disks: terrestrial-type planet formation and water delivery

Context. Several studies, observational and theoretical, suggest that planetary systems with only rocky planets are the most common in the Universe. Aims. We study the diversity of planetary systems that might form around Sun-like stars in low-mass disks without gas-giant planets. We focus especially on the formation process of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone (HZ) and analyze their water contents with the goal to determine systems of astrobiological interest. In addition, we study the formation of planets on wide orbits because they can be detected with the microlensing technique. Methods. N-body simulations of high resolution were developed for a wide range of surface density profiles. A bimodal distribution of planetesimals and planetary embryos with different physical and orbital configurations was used to simulate the planetary accretion process. The surface density profile combines a power law for the inside of the disk of the form r-γ, with an exponential decay to the outside. We performed simulations adopting a disk of 0.03 M ⊙ and values of γ = 0.5, 1 and 1.5. Results. All our simulations form planets in the HZ with different masses and final water contents depending on the three different profiles. For γ = 0.5, our simulations produce three planets in the HZ with masses ranging from 0.03 MŠ to 0.1 M⊕ and water contents between 0.2 and 16 Earth oceans (1 Earth ocean =2.8 × 10-4⊕). For γ = 1, three planets form in the HZ with masses between 0.18 M⊕ and 0.52 M⊕ and water contents from 34 to 167 Earth oceans. Finally, for γ = 1.5, we find four planets in the HZ with masses ranging from 0.66 M⊕ to 2.21 M⊕ and water contents between 192 and 2326 Earth oceans. This profile shows distinctive results because it is the only one of those studied here that leads to the formation of water worlds. Conclusions. Since planetary systems with γ = 1 and 1.5 present planets in the HZ with suitable masses to retain a long-lived atmosphere and to maintain plate tectonics, they seem to be the most promising candidates to be potentially habitable. Particularly, these systems form Earths and Super-Earths of at least 3 M⊕ around the snow line, which can be discovered by the microlensing technique.Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

Planetary formation and water delivery in the habitable zone around solar-type stars in different dynamical environments

Context. Observational and theoretical studies suggest that there are many and various planetary systems in the Universe. Aims. We study the formation and water delivery of planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around solar-type stars. In particular, we study different dynamical environments that are defined by the most massive body in the system. Methods. First of all, a semi-analytical model was used to define the mass of the protoplanetary disks that produce each of the five dynamical scenarios of our research. Then, we made use of the same semi-analytical model to describe the evolution of embryos and planetesimals during the gaseous phase. Finally, we carried out N-body simulations of planetary accretion in order to analyze the formation and water delivery of planets in the HZ in the different dynamical environments. Results. Water worlds are efficiently formed in the HZ in different dynamical scenarios. In systems with a giant planet analog to Jupiter or Saturn around the snow line, super-Earths tend to migrate into the HZ from outside the snow line as a result of interactions with other embryos and accrete water only during the gaseous phase. In systems without giant planets, Earths and super-Earths with high water by mass contents can either be formed in situ in the HZ or migrate into it from outer regions, and water can be accreted during the gaseous phase and in collisions with water-rich embryos and planetesimals. Conclusions. The formation of planets in the HZ with very high water by mass contents seems to be a common process around Sun-like stars. Our research suggests that such planets are still very efficiently produced in different dynamical environments. Moreover, our study indicates that the formation of planets in the HZ with masses and water contents similar to those of Earth seems to be a rare process around solar-type stars in the systems under consideration.Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plat

Planetary formation and water delivery in the habitable zone around solar-type stars in different dynamical environments

Context. Observational and theoretical studies suggest that there are many and various planetary systems in the Universe. Aims. We study the formation and water delivery of planets in the habitable zone (HZ) around solar-type stars. In particular, we study different dynamical environments that are defined by the most massive body in the system. Methods. First of all, a semi-analytical model was used to define the mass of the protoplanetary disks that produce each of the five dynamical scenarios of our research. Then, we made use of the same semi-analytical model to describe the evolution of embryos and planetesimals during the gaseous phase. Finally, we carried out N-body simulations of planetary accretion in order to analyze the formation and water delivery of planets in the HZ in the different dynamical environments. Results. Water worlds are efficiently formed in the HZ in different dynamical scenarios. In systems with a giant planet analog to Jupiter or Saturn around the snow line, super-Earths tend to migrate into the HZ from outside the snow line as a result of interactions with other embryos and accrete water only during the gaseous phase. In systems without giant planets, Earths and super-Earths with high water by mass contents can either be formed in situ in the HZ or migrate into it from outer regions, and water can be accreted during the gaseous phase and in collisions with water-rich embryos and planetesimals. Conclusions. The formation of planets in the HZ with very high water by mass contents seems to be a common process around Sun-like stars. Our research suggests that such planets are still very efficiently produced in different dynamical environments. Moreover, our study indicates that the formation of planets in the HZ with masses and water contents similar to those of Earth seems to be a rare process around solar-type stars in the systems under consideration.Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plat