Ways that our Solar System helps us understand the formation of other planetary systems and ways that it doesn't

Models of planetary formation can be tested by comparison of their ability to predict features of our Solar System in a consistent way, and then extrapolated to other hypothetical planetary systems by different choice of parameters. When this is done, it is found that the resulting systems are insensitive to direct effects of the mass of the star, but do strongly depend on the properties of the disk, principally its surface density. Major uncertainty results from lack of an adequate theoretical model that predicts the existence, size, and distribution of analogs of our Solar System, particularly the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. Nevertheless, reasons can be found for expecting that planetary systems, including those containing biologically habitable planets similar to Earth, may be abundant in the Galaxy and Universe.     

内日冕的绿线强度分布研究

日冕是太阳大气活动的关键区域,是日地空间天气的源头.受观测限制,对日冕低层大气等离子体结构和磁场状态的研究非常欠缺,国际上对于可见光波段日冕低层大气的亮度分层研究很少.利用丽江日冕仪YOGIS(Yunnan Green-line Imaging System)的日冕绿线(Fe_ⅩⅣ5303?)观测资料,对内日冕区域(1.03R_☉-1.25R_☉,R_☉表示太阳半径)亮结构及其中冕环进行了有效的强度衰减分析.对亮结构的强度在太阳径向高度上进行了指数衰减拟合,比较这些拟合结果发现所得到的静态内冕环的衰减指数在一固定值附近.然后将比较明显的冕环提取出来,通过对不同高度的绿线强度进行指数拟合,得出的衰减指数与亮结构中也比较相近,这对进一步研究日冕中的各项物理参数演化提供了参考.     

On the possibility of earth-type habitable planets around 47 UMa

We investigate whether Earth-type habitable planets can in principle exist in the planetary system of 47 UMa. The system of 47 UMa consists of two Jupiter-size planets beyond the outer edge of the stellar habitable zone, and thus resembles our own Solar System most closely compared to all exosolar planetary systems discovered so far. Our study of habitability deliberately follows an Earth-based view according to the concept of Franck and colleagues, which assumes the long-term possibility of photosynthetic biomass production under geodynamic conditions. Consequently, a broad variety of climatological, biogeochemical, and geodynamical processes involved in the generation of photosynthesis-driven life conditions is taken into account. The stellar luminosity and the age of the star/planet system are of fundamental importance for planetary habitability. Our study considers different types of planetary continental growth models and takes into account a careful assessment of the stellar parameters. In the event of successful formation and orbital stability, two subjects of intense research, we find that Earth-type habitable planets around 47 UMa are in principle possible! The likelihood of those planets is increased if assumed that 47 UMa is relatively young (?6 Gyr) and has a relatively small stellar luminosity as permitted by the observational range of those parameters.     

Some cosmochemical consequences of a turbulent protoplanetary cloud

Physical processes affecting dust and vapor in a turbulent disk, which is hot in a small central region (T > 1500°K) and cold at its outer edge (T ～ 50°K) are discussed. Such disks are obtained from hydrodynamic collapse calculations of rotating gas clouds. While these calculations give the result that most of the disk, including the planetary region, remains cold (?400°K) throughout the evolution of the system, it can be shown, nevertheless, that the information of the hot interior is preserved in solids. Therefore it is suggested that the basic cosmochemical evidence from meteorite analysis, in favor of a hot protoplanetary cloud, can be understood. Detailed calculations involving estimates of sizes, both for inclusions and chondrules, as well as rim structures are given.     

Extrasolar planetary systems

The article deals with the occurrence of planetary systems in the Universe. In Section I, the terms “planet” and “planet-like objects” are defined. Two definitions proposed for the term “planetary system” are examined from the point of view (1) of the relation between planetary systems and binary and multiple star systems and (2) of planetary systems as abodes of intelligent beings. In Section II, the observational search for extrasolar planetary systems is described, as performable by earthbound optical telescopes, by space probes, by long baseline radio interferometry, and finally by inference from the reception of signals sent by intelligent beings in other worlds.In Section III we show that any planetary system must be preceded by a rotating disk of gas and dust around a central mass. Both observational evidence and theoretical reasons indicate the ease of formation of such disk structures in the cosmos. The time scale of collapse of a gaseous medium into a disk and that of the latter's dissipation are examined. This provides us with a new empirical approach and leads us to consider the problem of the frequency of occurrence of planetary systems to be ripe for scientific study. In Section IV, a brief review of theories of the formation of the solar system is given along with a proposed scheme for classification of these theories. In Section V, the evidence for magnetic activity in the early stages of stellar evolution is presented, as developed from six independent clues: the nuclear abundance of light elements, the behavior of flare stars, the intensities of H and K emission in stars, the nonthermal radiation of premain sequence stars, the properties of meteorites, and finally the existence of contact binaries. The magnetic braking theories of solar and stellar rotation are discussed in Section VI, thereby introducing the idea of formation of a rotating disk of gas and dust around stars in Section VII. From this disk a planetary system emerges.Section VIII gives an estimate for the frequency of occurrence of planetary systems in the Universe. It is based on the rotational behavior of main-sequence stars, and concludes that planetary systems have a far greater chance to appear around single main-sequence stars of spectral types later than F5 than around any other kind of star. The combined probability distribution of sizes and masses could be obtained. From physical considerations, it appears that sizes of planetary systems around stars of any given spectral type may not vary greatly from one to another.     

Dynamic habitability for Earth-like planets in 86 extrasolar planetary systems

In this paper we estimate the likelihood to find habitable Earth-like planets on stable orbits for 86 selected extrasolar planetary systems, where luminosity, effective temperature and stellar age are known. For determining the habitable zone (HZ) an integrated system approach is used taking into account a variety of climatological, biogeochemical, and geodynamical processes. Habitability is linked to the photosynthetic activity on the planetary surface. We find that habitability strongly depends on the age of the stellar system and the characteristics of a virtual Earth-like planet. In particular, the portion of land/ocean coverages plays an important role. We approximated the conditions for orbital stability using a method based on the Hill radius. Almost 60% of the investigated systems could harbour habitable Earth-like planets on stable orbits. In 18 extrasolar systems we find even better prerequisites for dynamic habitability than in our own solar system. In general our results are comparable to those with an HZ determination based only on climatic constraints. However, there are remarkable differences for land worlds and for systems older than about 7 Gyr.     

Dust in the solar system and in extra-solar planetary systems

Among the observed circumstellar dust envelopes a certain population, planetary debris disks, is ascribed to systems with optically thin dust disks and low gas content. These systems contain planetesimals and possibly planets and are believed to be systems that are most similar to our solar system in an early evolutionary stage. Planetary debris disks have been identified in large numbers by a brightness excess in the near-infrared, mid-infrared and/or submillimetre range of their stellar spectral energy distributions. In some cases, spatially resolved observations are possible and reveal complex spatial structures. Acting forces and physical processes are similar to those in the solar system dust cloud, but the observational approach is obviously quite different: overall spatial distributions for systems of different ages for the planetary debris disks, as opposed to detailed local information in the case of the solar system. Comparison with the processes of dust formation and evolution observed in the solar system therefore helps understand the planetary debris disks. In this paper, we review our present knowledge of observations, acting forces, and major physical interactions of the dust in the solar system and in similar extra-solar planetary systems.     

Habitable zones around main sequence stars

A one-dimensional climate model is used to estimate the width of the habitable zone (HZ) around our Sun and around other main sequence stars. Our basic premise is that we are dealing with Earth-like planets with CO2/H2O/N2 atmospheres and that habitability requires the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. The inner edge of the HZ is determined in our model by loss of water via photolysis and hydrogen escape. The outer edge of the HZ is determined by the formation of CO2 clouds, which cool a planet's surface by increasing its albedo and by lowering the convective lapse rate. Conservative estimates for these distances in our own Solar System are 0.95 and 1.37 AU, respectively; the actual width of the present HZ could be much greater. Between these two limits, climate stability is ensured by a feedback mechanism in which atmospheric CO2 concentrations vary inversely with planetary surface temperature. The width of the HZ is slightly greater for planets that are larger than Earth and for planets which have higher N2 partial pressures. The HZ evolves outward in time because the Sun increases in luminosity as it ages. A conservative estimate for the width of the 4.6-Gyr continuously habitable zone (CHZ) is 0.95 to 1.15 AU. Stars later than F0 have main sequence lifetimes exceeding 2 Gyr and, so, are also potential candidates for harboring habitable planets. The HZ around an F star is larger and occurs farther out than for our Sun; the HZ around K and M stars is smaller and occurs farther in. Nevertheless, the widths of all of these HZs are approximately the same if distance is expressed on a logarithmic scale. A log distance scale is probably the appropriate scale for this problem because the planets in our own Solar System are spaced logarithmically and because the distance at which another star would be expected to form planets should be related to the star's mass. The width of the CHZ around other stars depends on the time that a planet is required to remain habitable and on whether a planet that is initially frozen can be thawed by modest increases in stellar luminosity. For a specified period of habitability, CHZs around K and M stars are wider (in log distance) than for our Sun because these stars evolve more slowly. Planets orbiting late K stars and M stars may not be habitable, however, b ecause they can become trapped in synchronous rotation as a consequence of tidal damping. F stars have narrower (log distance) CHZ's than our Sun because they evolve more rapidly. Our results suggest that mid-to-early K stars should be considered along with G stars as optimal candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life.     

Photometric search for extrasolar planets

The searches for extrasolar planetary systems by different methods based on the photometric monitoring of stars are reviewed. The search for extra-solar planets is, more or less consciously, the first step toward the search for other Minds in the Universe. A rational approach leads to the search for planets where structures with high complexity can emerge. In absence of any positive indication, it is safer to start this search by looking for planets within the habitable zone around main sequence stars where liquid water can be present. Of course, even if this future goal would fail, the detection of terrestrial planets would contribute to the characterization of other planetary systems and would constitute an interesting astrophysical goal by itself.     

Obliquity variations of terrestrial planets in habitable zones

We have investigated obliquity variations of possible terrestrial planets in habitable zones (HZs) perturbed by a giant planet(s) in extrasolar planetary systems. All the extrasolar planets so far discovered are inferred to be jovian-type gas giants. However, terrestrial planets could also exist in extrasolar planetary systems. In order for life, in particular for land-based life, to evolve and survive on a possible terrestrial planet in an HZ, small obliquity variations of the planet may be required in addition to its orbital stability, because large obliquity variations would cause significant climate change. It is known that large obliquity variations are caused by spin-orbit resonances where the precession frequency of the planet's spin nearly coincides with one of the precession frequencies of the ascending node of the planet's orbit. Using analytical expressions, we evaluated the obliquity variations of terrestrial planets with prograde spins in HZs. We found that the obliquity of terrestrial planets suffers large variations when the giant planet's orbit is separated by several Hill radii from an edge of the HZ, in which the orbits of the terrestrial planets in the HZ are marginally stable. Applying these results to the known extrasolar planetary systems, we found that about half of these systems can have terrestrial planets with small obliquity variations (smaller than 10°) over their entire HZs. However, the systems with both small obliquity variations and stable orbits in their HZs are only 1/5 of known systems. Most such systems are comprised of short-period giant planets. If additional planets are found in the known planetary systems, they generally tend to enhance the obliquity variations. On the other hand, if a large/close satellite exists, it significantly enhances the precession rate of the spin axis of a terrestrial planet and is likely to reduce the obliquity variations of the planet. Moreover, if a terrestrial planet is in a retrograde spin state, the spin-orbit resonance does not occur. Retrograde spin, or a large/close satellite might be essential for land-based life to survive on a terrestrial planet in an HZ.     

Ultraviolet radiation constraints around the circumstellar habitable zones

Ultraviolet radiation is known to inhibit photosynthesis, induce DNA destruction and cause damage to a wide variety of proteins and lipids. In particular, UV radiation between 200 and 300 nm becomes energetically very damaging to most of the terrestrial biological systems. On the other hand, UV radiation is usually considered one of the most important energy source on the primitive Earth for the synthesis of many biochemical compounds and, therefore, essential for several biogenesis processes. In this work, we use these properties of the UV radiation to define the boundaries of an ultraviolet habitable zone. We also analyze the evolution of the UV habitable zone during the main sequence stage of the star. We apply these criteria to study the UV habitable zone for those extrasolar planetary systems that were observed by the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). We analyze the possibility that extrasolar planets and moons could be suitable for life, according to the UV constrains presented in this work and other accepted criteria of habitability (liquid water, orbital stability, etc.).     

Habitable zones and UV habitable zones around host stars

Ultraviolet radiation is a double-edged sword to life. If it is too strong, the terrestrial biological systems will be damaged. And if it is too weak, the synthesis of many biochemical compounds cannot go along. We try to obtain the continuous ultraviolet habitable zones, and compare the ultraviolet habitable zones with the habitable zones of host stars. Using the boundary ultraviolet radiation of ultraviolet habitable zone, we calculate the ultraviolet habitable zones of host stars with masses from 0.08 to 4.00 M _⊙. For the host stars with effective temperatures lower than 4,600 K, the ultraviolet habitable zones are closer than the habitable zones. For the host stars with effective temperatures higher than 7,137 K, the ultraviolet habitable zones are farther than the habitable zones. For a hot subdwarf as a host star, the distance of the ultraviolet habitable zone is about ten times more than that of the habitable zone, which is not suitable for the existence of life.     

Anthropic selection and the habitability of planets orbiting M and K dwarfs

The Earth may have untypical characteristics which were necessary preconditions for the emergence of life and, ultimately, intelligent observers. This paper presents a rigorous procedure for quantifying such “anthropic selection” effects by comparing Earth’s properties to those of exoplanets. The hypothesis that there is anthropic selection for stellar mass (i.e. planets orbiting stars with masses within a particular range are more favourable for the emergence of observers) is then tested. The results rule out the expected strong selection for low mass stars which would result, all else being equal, if the typical timescale for the emergence of intelligent observers is very long. This indicates that the habitable zone of small stars may be less hospitable for intelligent life than the habitable zone of solar-mass stars. Additional planetary properties can also be analyzed, using the approach introduced here, once relatively complete and unbiased statistics are made available by current and planned exoplanet characterization projects.     

Fresip: A mission to determine the character and frequency of extra-solar planets around solar-like stars

FRESIP (FRequency of Earth-Sized Inner Planets) is a mission designed to detect and characterize Earth-sizes planets around solar-like stars. The sizes of the planets are determined from the decrease in light from a star that occurs during planetary transits, while the orbital period is determined from the repeatability of the transits. Measurements of these parameters can be compared to theories that predict the spacing of planets, their distribution of size with orbital distance, and the variation of these quantities with stellar type and multiplicity. Because thousands of stars must be continually monitored to detect the transits, much information on the stars can be obtained on their rotation rates and activity cycles. Observations of p-mode oscillations also provide information on their age and composition. These goals are accomplished by continuously and simultaneously monitoring 500 solar-like stars for evidence of brightness changes caused by Earth-sized or larger planetary transits. To obtain the high precision needed to find planets as small as the Earth and Venus around solar-like stars, a wide field of view Schmidt telescope with an array of CCD detectors at its focal plane must be located outside of the Earth's at mosphere. SMM (Solar Maximum Mission) observations of the low-level variability of the Sun (1:100,000) on the time scales of a transit (4 to 16 hours), and our laboratory measurements of the photometric precision of charge-coupled devices (1:100,000) show that the detection of planets as small as the Earth is practical. The probability for detecting transits is quite favorable for planets in inner orbits. If other planetary systems are similar to our own, then approximately 1% of those systems will show transits resulting in the discovery of 50 planetary systems in or near the habitable zone of solar-like stars.     

Stochasticity of Planetary Orbits in Double Star Systems

Cosmogonical theories as well as recent observations allow us to expect the existence of planets around many stars other than the Sun. On an other hand, double and multiple star systems are established to be more numerous than single stars (such as the Sun), at least in the solar neighborhood. We are then faced to the following dynamical problem: assuming that planets can form in a binary early environment (I do not deal here with), does long-term stability for planetary orbits exist in double star systems.Although preliminary studies were rather pessimistic about the possibility of existence of stable planetary orbits in double or multiple star systems, modern computation have shown that many such stable orbits do exist (but possible chaotic behavior), either around the binary as a whole (P-type) or around one component of the binary (S-type), this latter being explored here.The dynamical model is the elliptic plane restricted three-body problem; the phase space of initial conditions is systematically explored, and limits for stability have been established. Stable S-type planetary orbits are found up to distance of their "sun" of the order of half the periastron distance of the binary; moreover, among these stable orbits, nearly-circular ones exist up to distance of their "sun" of the order of one quarter the periastron distance of the binary; finally, among the nearly-circular stable orbits, several stay inside the "habitable zone", at least for two nearby binaries which components are nearly of solar type.Nevertheless, we know that chaos may destroy this stability after a long time (sometimes several millions years). It is therefore important to compute indicators of chaos for these stable planetary orbits to investigate their actual very long-term stability. Here we give an example of such a computation for more than a billion years.     

Infrared photometry of the X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 in April 2000

We present the IR photometry of the X-ray binary XTE J1118+480 performed during seven nights in April and two nights in May–June 2000. A significant IR excess has been detected in the object, which may be due to the thermal radiation from a dust envelope/cloud. The observed energy distribution in the range 1.25–3.5 μm can be interpreted in terms of the sum of the fluxes from an accretion disk with a temperature of ～20 000 K and a dust envelope with grains heated to ～900 K. The distance to the X-ray binary estimated from the total flux from the dust envelope is no less than 0.6–3 kpc. The mean optical depth of the dust envelope for the accretion-disk radiation is about 0.06.     

Gap formation in the dust layer of 3D protoplanetary disks

We numerically model the evolution of dust in a protoplanetary disk using a two-phase (gas+dust) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code, which is non-self-gravitating and locally isothermal. The code follows the three dimensional distribution of dust in a protoplanetary disk as it interacts with the gas via aerodynamic drag. In this work, we present the evolution of a disk comprising 1% dust by mass in the presence of an embedded planet for two different disk configurations: a small, minimum mass solar nebular (MMSN) disk and a larger, more massive Classical T Tauri star (CTTS) disk. We then vary the grain size and planetary mass to see how they effect the resulting disk structure. We find that gap formation is much more rapid and striking in the dust layer than in the gaseous disk and that a system with a given stellar, disk and planetary mass will have a different appearance depending on the grain size and that such differences will be detectable in the millimetre domain with ALMA. For low mass planets in our MMSN models, a gap can open in the dust disk while not in the gas disk. We also note that dust accumulates at the external edge of the planetary gap and speculate that the presence of a planet in the disk may facilitate the growth of planetesimals in this high density region.     

On the Dynamics of Dust Grains in a Hierarchical Environment

Most main sequence stars are binaries or higher multiplicity Systems and it appears that at birth most stars have circumstellar disks. It is commonly accepted that planetary systems arise from the material of these disks; consequently, binary and multiple systems may have a main role in planet formation. In this paper, we study the stage of planetary formation during which the particulate material is still dispersed as centimetre-to-metre sized primordial aggregates. We investigate the response of the particles, in a protoplanetary disk with radius R_D = 100 AU around a solar-like star, to the gravitational field of bound perturbing companions in a moderately wide (300–1600 AU) orbit. For this purpose, we have carried out a series of simulations of coplanar hierarchical configurations using a direct integration code that models gravitational and viscous forces. The massive protoplanetary disk is around one of the components of the binary. The evolution in time of the dust sub-disk depends mainly on the nature (prograde or retrograde) of the relative revolution of the stellar companion, and on the temperature and mass of the circumstellar disk. Our results show that for binary companions near the limit of tidal truncation of the disk, the perturbation leads to an enhanced accretion rate onto the primary, decreasing the lifetime of the particles in the protoplanetary disk with respect to the case of a single star. As a consequence of an enhanced accretion rate the mass of the disk decreases faster, which leads to a longer resultant lifetime for particles in the disk. On the other hand, binary companions may induce tidal arms in the dust phase of protoplanetary disks. Spiral perturbations with m = 1 may increase in a factor 10 or more the dust surface density in the neighbourhood of the arm, facilitating the growth of the particles. Moreover, in a massive disk (0.01M⊙) the survival time of particles is significantly shorter than in a less massive nebula (0.001M⊙) and the temperature of the disk severely influences the spiral-in time of particles. The rapid evolution of the dust component found in post T Tauri stars can be explained as a result of their binary nature. Binarity may also influence the evolution of circumpulsar disks. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Planetary atmosphere evolution:Do other habitable planets exist and can we detect them?

The goal of this conference is to consider whether it is possible within the next few decades to detect Earth-like planets around other stars using telescopes or interferometers on the ground or in space. Implicit in the term “Earth-like” is the idea that such planets might be habitable by Earth-like organisms, or that they might actually be inhabited. Here, I shall address two questions from the standpoint of planetary atmosphere evolution. First, what are the chances that habitable planets exist around other stars? And, second, if inhabited planets exist, what would be the best way to detect them?