TY - JOUR
T1 - Apsidal behavior among planetary orbits
T2 - Testing the planet-planet scattering model
AU - Barnes, Rory
AU - Greenberg, Richard
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007/4/10
Y1 - 2007/4/10
N2 - Planets in extrasolar systems tend to interact such that their orbits lie near a boundary between apsidal libration and circulation, a "separatrix," with one eccentricity periodically reaching near zero. One explanation, applied to the v And system, assumed three original planets on circular orbits. One is ejected, leaving the other two with near-separatrix behavior. We test that model by integrating hundreds of hypothetical, unstable planetary systems that eject a planet. We find that the probability that the remaining planets exhibit near-separatrix motion is small (<5% compared with nearly 50% of observed systems). Moreover, while observed librating systems are evenly divided between aligned and antialigned pericenter longitudes, the scattering model strongly favors alignment. Alternative scattering theories are proposed, which may provide a more satisfactory fit with observed systems.
AB - Planets in extrasolar systems tend to interact such that their orbits lie near a boundary between apsidal libration and circulation, a "separatrix," with one eccentricity periodically reaching near zero. One explanation, applied to the v And system, assumed three original planets on circular orbits. One is ejected, leaving the other two with near-separatrix behavior. We test that model by integrating hundreds of hypothetical, unstable planetary systems that eject a planet. We find that the probability that the remaining planets exhibit near-separatrix motion is small (<5% compared with nearly 50% of observed systems). Moreover, while observed librating systems are evenly divided between aligned and antialigned pericenter longitudes, the scattering model strongly favors alignment. Alternative scattering theories are proposed, which may provide a more satisfactory fit with observed systems.
KW - Methods: n-body simulations
KW - Planetary systems
KW - Planets and satellites: formation
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U2 - 10.1086/516824
DO - 10.1086/516824
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34248166087
VL - 659
SP - L53-L56
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
SN - 0004-637X
IS - 1 II
ER -