Physics
Scientific paper
Jan 1998
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1998lpico.957...42s&link_type=abstract
Origin of the Earth and Moon, Proceedings of the Conference held 1-3 December, 1998 in Monterey, California. LPI Contribution N
Physics
Planetary Evolution, Planetary Systems, Planets, Extrasolar Planets, Collisions, Lunar Evolution, Infrared Radiation, Interferometers
Scientific paper
The standard theory of lunar formation relies on a giant, highly energetic impact that pushed the material from which the Moon was formed into Earth orbit. Following work published in [1], 1 examine the direct thermal detectability of such Moon-forming impacts during the short but unique epoch of giant impacts that is a hallmark of the standard theory of planetary formation. Sufficiently large impacts during this era were capable of creating luminous, 1500-2500 K photospheres around individual terrestrial planets, which likely persisted for 10-103 yr in some cases. While in this state, a young planet can be detected by its infrared radiation, which can be up to lO,OOOx greater than when the same Planet is cool later in its life. I will show calculations that demonstrate the feasibility of detecting such events using the Keck Interferometer. I will also estimate the number of young stars one would need to examine to expect to find a luminous terrestrial-class planet after a giant impact. The results obtained herein suggest a new strategy for the detection of solar systems with the potential for observationally confirming the standard theory of late-stage planetary accretion. It will be shown that the thermally luminous earth-sized objects can be detected in nearby star-forming regions (about 125 parsecs, or almost 400 light years, away) in 1-2 nights of observing time. However, because even young planets are only sporadically heated by the truely enormous impacts needed to turn their surfaces molten, predictions indicate that if our solar system formation scenario is typical for low-mass main sequence dwarfs, then about 250 such young stars would have to be searched to expect to find one luminous, hot, terrestrial-sized planet. A dedicated observing program using 10-20% of the Keck interferometer's observing time could expect to detect 1-10 such objects over a few years. These results suggest a new strategy for the detection of young solar systems, and also offer, for the first time, the potential to confirm the standard model of late stage planetary accretion involving impacts between forming planets.
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