Where Are the Massive Close-in Extrasolar Planets?

Details Where Are the Massive Close-in Extrasolar Planets? Where Are the Massive Close-in Extrasolar Planets?

Apr 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002apj...568l.117p&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 568, Issue 2, pp. L117-L120.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

44

Celestial Mechanics, Stars: Planetary Systems, Solar System: Formation, Solar System: General, Stars: Individual: Henry Draper Number: Hd 82943, Stars: Individual: Henry Draper Number: Hd 179949, Stars: Individual: Constellation Name: Τ Bootis, Stars: Individual: Constellation Name: Υ Andromedae, Stars: Rotation, Stellar Dynamics

Scientific paper

About 68 extrasolar planets around main-sequence stars of spectral types F, G, and K have been discovered up to now. The minimum masses (Mpsini) of these planets are ranging from fractions of a Jupiter mass (MJ) to 15 MJ. The semimajor axes of the planetary orbits range from 0.04 out to 4 AU. At large semimajor axes, only massive planets have been discovered because of observational selection effects. For semimajor axes less than 0.1 AU, however, there seems to be an observational lack of very massive planets (>1 MJ). Here we explain the absence of massive planets at these distances by tidal interactions between planets and their central star that lead to a rapid decay of a planetary orbit toward the Roche zone of the star within a short timescale. A higher metallicity of planet-bearing stars and the recent discovery of a 6Li excess of a G0 star might further indicate that planets can indeed get lost in their host stars.

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