CIRCUMPLANETARY DISK FORMATION

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/140/5/1168· OSTI ID:21443210

Ward, William R; Canup, Robin M ^[1]

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1. Planetary Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States)

The development and evolution of a circumplanetary disk during the accretion of a giant planet is examined. The planet gains mass and angular momentum from infalling solar nebula material while simultaneously contracting due to luminosity losses. When the planet becomes rotationally unstable it begins to shed material into a circumplanetary disk. Viscosity causes the disk to spread to a moderate fraction of the Hill radius where it is assumed that a small fraction of the material escapes back into heliocentric orbit, carrying away most of the excess angular momentum. As the planet's contraction continues, its radius can become smaller than the spatial range of the inflow and material begins to fall directly onto the disk, which switches from a spin-out disk to an accretion disk as the planet completes its growth. We here develop a description of the circumplanetary disk, which is combined with models of the planet's contraction and the inflow rate including its angular momentum content to yield a solution for the time evolution of a planet-disk system.

• OSTI ID: 21443210
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 140; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
EVOLUTION
LUMINOSITY
NEBULAE
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
ORBITS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETS
SATELLITES
SOLAR NEBULA
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION