Formation of Polar Terrestrial Circumbinary Planets

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-6-2021

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Volume

920

Issue

1

First page number:

1

Last page number:

6

Abstract

All circumbinary planets (CBPs) currently detected are in orbits that are almost coplanar to the binary orbit. While misaligned CBPs are more difficult to detect, observations of polar-aligned circumbinary gas and debris disks around eccentric binaries suggest that polar planet formation may be possible. A polar-aligned planet has a stable orbit that is inclined by 90° to the orbital plane of the binary with an angular momentum vector that is aligned to the binary eccentricity vector. With n-body simulations we model polar terrestrial planet formation using hydrodynamic gas disk simulations to motivate the initial particle distribution. Terrestrial planet formation around an eccentric binary is more likely in a polar alignment than in a coplanar alignment. Similar planetary systems form in a polar alignment around an eccentric binary and a coplanar alignment around a circular binary. The polar planetary systems are stable even with the effects of general relativity. Planetary orbits around an eccentric binary exhibit tilt and eccentricity oscillations at all inclinations; however, the oscillations are larger in the coplanar case than the polar case. We suggest that polar-aligned terrestrial planets will be found in the future.

Keywords

Binary stars; Solar system terrestrial planets; Extrasolar rocky planets; Exoplanet formation

Disciplines

Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy | The Sun and the Solar System

Language

English

Rights

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

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS