Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-28-2021

Publication Title

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

504

Issue

3

First page number:

3375

Last page number:

3386

Abstract

Pollution of white dwarf atmospheres may be caused by asteroids that originate from the locations of secular and mean-motion resonances in planetary systems. Asteroids in these locations experience increased eccentricity, leading to tidal disruption by the white dwarf. We examine how the ν6 secular resonance shifts outwards into a previously stable region of the asteroid belt, as the star evolves to a white dwarf. Analytic secular models require a planet to be engulfed in order to shift the resonance. We show with numerical simulations that as a planet gets engulfed by the evolving star, the secular resonance shifts and the rate of tidal disruption events increases with the engulfed planet’s mass and its orbital separation. We also investigate the behaviour of mean-motion resonances. The width of a mean-motion resonance increases as the star loses mass and becomes a white dwarf. The ν6 secular resonance is more efficient at driving tidal disruptions than mean-motion resonances with Jupiter. By examining 230 observed exoplanetary systems whose central star will evolve into a white dwarf, we find that along with an Earth mass planet at 1au⁠, hot Jupiters at a semimajor axis... (See full abstract in article).

Disciplines

Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

File Format

pdf

File Size

5749 KB

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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