skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: HIDING IN THE SHADOWS. II. COLLISIONAL DUST AS EXOPLANET MARKERS

Abstract

Observations of the youngest planets (∼1–10 Myr for a transitional disk) will increase the accuracy of our planet formation models. Unfortunately, observations of such planets are challenging and time-consuming to undertake, even in ideal circumstances. Therefore, we propose the determination of a set of markers that can preselect promising exoplanet-hosting candidate disks. To this end, N-body simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of an embedded Jupiter-mass planet on the dynamics of the surrounding planetesimal disk and the resulting creation of second-generation collisional dust. We use a new collision model that allows fragmentation and erosion of planetesimals, and dust-sized fragments are simulated in a post-process step including non-gravitational forces due to stellar radiation and a gaseous protoplanetary disk. Synthetic images from our numerical simulations show a bright double ring at 850 μm for a low-eccentricity planet, whereas a high-eccentricity planet would produce a characteristic inner ring with asymmetries in the disk. In the presence of first-generation primordial dust these markers would be difficult to detect far from the orbit of the embedded planet, but would be detectable inside a gap of planetary origin in a transitional disk.

Authors:
; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. University of Bristol, School of Physics, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom)
  2. University of Delaware, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 217 Sharp Lab, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)
  3. University of Bristol, School of Earth Sciences, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22518573
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 820; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCURACY; ASYMMETRY; COLLISIONS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; COSMIC DUST; EROSION; FRAGMENTATION; IMAGES; JUPITER PLANET; MASS; ORBITS; PROTOPLANETS; STELLAR RADIATION

Citation Formats

Dobinson, Jack, Leinhardt, Zoë M., Lines, Stefan, Carter, Philip J., Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E., and Teanby, Nick A. HIDING IN THE SHADOWS. II. COLLISIONAL DUST AS EXOPLANET MARKERS. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/29.
Dobinson, Jack, Leinhardt, Zoë M., Lines, Stefan, Carter, Philip J., Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E., & Teanby, Nick A. HIDING IN THE SHADOWS. II. COLLISIONAL DUST AS EXOPLANET MARKERS. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/29
Dobinson, Jack, Leinhardt, Zoë M., Lines, Stefan, Carter, Philip J., Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E., and Teanby, Nick A. 2016. "HIDING IN THE SHADOWS. II. COLLISIONAL DUST AS EXOPLANET MARKERS". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/29.
@article{osti_22518573,
title = {HIDING IN THE SHADOWS. II. COLLISIONAL DUST AS EXOPLANET MARKERS},
author = {Dobinson, Jack and Leinhardt, Zoë M. and Lines, Stefan and Carter, Philip J. and Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E. and Teanby, Nick A.},
abstractNote = {Observations of the youngest planets (∼1–10 Myr for a transitional disk) will increase the accuracy of our planet formation models. Unfortunately, observations of such planets are challenging and time-consuming to undertake, even in ideal circumstances. Therefore, we propose the determination of a set of markers that can preselect promising exoplanet-hosting candidate disks. To this end, N-body simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of an embedded Jupiter-mass planet on the dynamics of the surrounding planetesimal disk and the resulting creation of second-generation collisional dust. We use a new collision model that allows fragmentation and erosion of planetesimals, and dust-sized fragments are simulated in a post-process step including non-gravitational forces due to stellar radiation and a gaseous protoplanetary disk. Synthetic images from our numerical simulations show a bright double ring at 850 μm for a low-eccentricity planet, whereas a high-eccentricity planet would produce a characteristic inner ring with asymmetries in the disk. In the presence of first-generation primordial dust these markers would be difficult to detect far from the orbit of the embedded planet, but would be detectable inside a gap of planetary origin in a transitional disk.},
doi = {10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/29},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22518573}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 820,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Sun Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}