The effects of a early stellar encounter on a planetesimal disk.

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

We investigate the effects of a passing stellar encounter on a planetesimal disk through analytical calculations and numerical simulations, and derive the boundary radius (a planet) outside which planet formation is inhibited by disruptive collisions with high relative velocities. We study orbital eccentricity (e) and inclination (i) of planetesimals pumped up by perturbations of a passing single star. We model a protoplanetary system as a disk of massless particles circularly orbiting a host star. The massless particles represent planetesimals. A single star as massive as the host star encounters the protoplanetary system. Numerical orbital simulations show that in the inner region at semimajor axis a ⪉ 0.2 D where D is pericenter distance of the encounter, e and i have power-law and the longitudes are aligned, independent of the encounter parameters. In the outer region a ⪆ 0.2 D, the radial gradient is steeper. We analytically reproduce the power-law dependence and explicitly give numerical factors of the power-law dependence as functions of encounter parameters. We derive the boundary radius (a planet) of planet forming region as a function of dynamical parameters of a stellar cluster, assuming the protoplanetary system belongs to the stellar cluster. We find a planet ~ 40-60AU in the case of D ~ 150-200AU. D ~ 200AU may be likely to occur in a relatively dense cluster. We point out that the size of planetary systems (a planet) born in a dense cluster may be necessarily restricted to that comparable to the size of planet region ( ~ 30-40AU) of our Solar system. We also investigate e and i of the particles in outer region. We show that the stellar encounter may cause the eccentric and inclined orbits of Kuiper Belt Objects.

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

The effects of a early stellar encounter on a planetesimal disk. 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 The effects of a early stellar encounter on a planetesimal disk., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The effects of a early stellar encounter on a planetesimal disk. will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1043219

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