Terrestrial Planet Formation Around Close Binary Stars

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

Most stars reside in multiple star systems; however, virtually all models of planetary growth have assumed an isolated single star. Numerical simulations of the collapse of molecular cloud cores to form binary stars suggest that disks will form within such systems. Observations indirectly suggest disk material around one or both components within young binary star systems. If planets form at the right places within such circumstellar disks, they can remain in stable orbits within the binary star systems for eons. We are simulating the late stages of growth of terrestrial planets around close binary stars, using a new, ultrafast, symplectic integrator that we have developed for this purpose. The sum of the masses of the two stars is one solar mass, and the initial disk of planetary embryos is the same as that used for simulating the late stages of terrestrial planet growth within our Solar System and in the Alpha Centauri wide binary star system. Giant planets are included in the simulations, as they are in most simulations of the late stages of terrestrial planet accumulation in our Solar System. When the stars are of equal mass and travel on a circular orbit with semimajor axis of up to 0.1 AU, the planetary embryos grow into a system of terrestrial planets that is statistically identical to those formed about single stars, but a larger semimajor axis and/or a significantly eccentric binary orbit can lead to terrestrial planet systems that contain fewer planets and/or are more dynamically excited.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Terrestrial Planet Formation Around Close Binary Stars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Terrestrial Planet Formation Around Close Binary Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Terrestrial Planet Formation Around Close Binary Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1375234

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.