HD 12661行星系统构形的形成与稳定性

最近的多普勒观测表明恒星HD 12661周围存在两颗中等偏心率轨道上运行的行星,内行星的最小质量为2．3木星质量,轨道周期为263．6天;外行星的最小质量为1．57木星质量,轨道周期为1444．5天．该系统的稳定性要求两颗行星处在平运动轨道共振．用数值方法研究了该系统形成初期在恒星气体盘作用下的轨道迁移与稳定性,计算了行星在迁移中被平运动共振俘获的概率．发现这两颗行星目前很可能正处在11:2平运动共振边缘,且运动是混沌的,从而澄清了关于系统目前构形的不同说法,并且很可能在系统形成后行星迁移到目前构形时,气体盘几乎消失了．     

Prospects for spectroscopic reflected-light planet searches

High-resolution spectroscopic searches for the starlight reflected from close-in extrasolar giant planets have the capability of determining the optical albedo spectra and scattering properties of these objects. When combined with radial velocity measurements they also yield the true mass of the planet. To date, only two such planets have been targeted for reflected-light signals, yielding upper limits on the optical albedos of the planets. Here we examine the prospects for future searches of this kind. We present Monte Carlo estimates of prior probability distributions for the orbital velocity amplitudes and planet/star flux ratios of six bright stars known to harbour giant planets in orbits with periods of less than 5 d. Using these estimates, we assess the viability of these targets for future reflected-light searches using 4- and 8-m class telescopes.     

Dynamical relaxation and the orbits of low-mass extrasolar planets

We consider the evolution of a system containing a population of massive planets formed rapidly through a fragmentation process occurring on a scale on the order of 100 au and a lower mass planet that assembles in a disc on a much longer time-scale. During the formation phase, the inner planet is kept on a circular orbit owing to tidal interaction with the disc, while the outer planets undergo dynamical relaxation. Interaction with the massive planets left in the system after the inner planet forms may increase the eccentricity of the inner orbit to high values, producing systems similar to those observed.     

Close encounters in young stellar clusters: implications for planetary systems in the solar neighbourhood

The stars that populate the solar neighbourhood were formed in stellar clusters. Through N -body simulations of these clusters, we measure the rate of close encounters between stars. By monitoring the interaction histories of each star, we investigate the singleton fraction in the solar neighbourhood. A singleton is a star which formed as a single star, has never experienced any close encounters with other stars or binaries, or undergone an exchange encounter with a binary. We find that, of the stars which formed as single stars, a significant fraction is not singletons once the clusters have dispersed. If some of these stars had planetary systems, with properties similar to those of the Solar System, the planets' orbits may have been perturbed by the effects of close encounters with other stars or the effects of a companion star within a binary. Such perturbations can lead to strong planet–planet interactions which eject several planets, leaving the remaining planets on eccentric orbits. Some of the single stars exchange into binaries. Most of these binaries are broken up via subsequent interactions within the cluster, but some remain intact beyond the lifetime of the cluster. The properties of these binaries are similar to those of the observed binary systems containing extrasolar planets. Thus, dynamical processes in young stellar clusters will alter significantly any population of Solar System-like planetary systems. In addition, beginning with a population of planetary systems exactly resembling the Solar System around single stars, dynamical encounters in young stellar clusters may produce at least some of the extrasolar planetary systems observed in the solar neighbourhood.     

Substellar companions and isolated planetary-mass objects from protostellar disc fragmentation

Self-gravitating protostellar discs are unstable to fragmentation if the gas can cool on a time-scale that is short compared with the orbital period. We use a combination of hydrodynamic simulations and N -body orbit integrations to study the long-term evolution of a fragmenting disc with an initial mass ratio to the star of   M _disc/ M _*= 0.1  . For a disc that is initially unstable across a range of radii, a combination of collapse and subsequent accretion yields substellar objects with a spectrum of masses extending (for a Solar-mass star) up to  ≈0.01 M_⊙  . Subsequent gravitational evolution ejects most of the lower mass objects within a few million years, leaving a small number of very massive planets or brown dwarfs in eccentric orbits at moderately small radii. Based on these results, systems such as HD 168443 – in which the companions are close to or beyond the deuterium burning limit – appear to be the best candidates to have formed via gravitational instability. If massive substellar companions originate from disc fragmentation, while lower-mass planetary companions originate from core accretion, the metallicity distribution of stars which host massive substellar companions at radii of ∼1 au should differ from that of stars with lower mass planetary companions.     

Why are there so few hot Jupiters?

We use numerical simulations to model the migration of massive planets at small radii and compare the results with the known properties of 'hot Jupiters' (extrasolar planets with semimajor axes   a < 0.1  au). For planet masses   M _pl sin  i > 0.5 M _J  , the evidence for any 'pile-up' at small radii is weak (statistically insignificant), and although the mass function of hot Jupiters is deficient in high-mass planets as compared to a reference sample located further out, the small sample size precludes definitive conclusions. We suggest that these properties are consistent with disc migration followed by entry into a magnetospheric cavity close to the star. Entry into the cavity results in a slowing of migration, accompanied by a growth in orbital eccentricity. For planet masses in excess of 1 Jupiter mass we find eccentricity growth time-scales of a few ×10⁵ yr, suggesting that these planets may often be rapidly destroyed. Eccentricity growth appears to be faster for more massive planets which may explain changes in the planetary mass function at small radii and may also predict a pile-up of lower mass planets, the sample of which is still incomplete.     

A search for planets transiting the M-dwarf debris disc host, AU Microscopii

We present high-cadence, high-precision multiband photometry of the young, M1Ve, debris disc star, AU Microscopii. The data were obtained in three continuum filters spanning a wavelength range from 4500 to 6600 Å, plus Hα, over 28 nights in 2005. The light curves show intrinsic stellar variability due to star-spots with an amplitude in the blue band of 0.051 mag and a period of 4.847 d. In addition, three large flares were detected in the data which all occur near the minimum brightness of the star. We remove the intrinsic stellar variability and combine the light curves of all the filters in order to search for transits by possible planetary companions orbiting in the plane of the nearly edge-on debris disc. The combined final light curve has a sampling of 0.35 min and a standard deviation of 6.8 mmag. We performed Monte Carlo simulations by adding fake transits to the observed light curve and find with 95 per cent significance that there are no Jupiter mass planets orbiting in the plane of the debris disc on circular orbits with periods,   P ≤ 5  d. In addition, there are no young Neptune like planets (with radii 2.5 times smaller than the young Jupiter) on circular orbits with periods,   P ≤ 3  d.     

Imaging planets around nearby white dwarfs

We suggest that Jovian planets will survive the late stages of stellar evolution, and that white dwarfs will retain planetary systems in wide orbits (≳5 au). Utilizing evolutionary models for Jovian planets, we show that infrared imaging with 8-m class telescopes of suitable nearby white dwarfs should allow us to resolve and detect companions ≳3 M _JUP. Detection of massive planetary companions to nearby white dwarfs would prove that such objects can survive the final stages of stellar evolution, place constraints on the frequency of main-sequence stars with planetary systems dynamically similar to our own and allow direct spectroscopic investigation of their composition and structure.     

On the evolution of giant protoplanets forming in circumbinary discs

We present the results of hydrodynamic simulations of Jovian mass protoplanets that form in circumbinary discs. The simulations follow the orbital evolution of the binary plus protoplanet system acting under their mutual gravitational forces, and forces exerted by the viscous circumbinary disc. The evolution involves the clearing of the inner circumbinary disc initially, so that the binary plus protoplanet system orbits within a low density cavity. Continued interaction between disc and protoplanet causes inward migration of the planet towards the inner binary. Subsequent evolution can take three distinct paths: (i) the protoplanet enters the 4 : 1 mean motion resonance with the binary, but is gravitationally scattered through a close encounter with the secondary star; (ii) the protoplanet enters the 4 : 1 mean motion resonance, the resonance breaks, and the planet remains in a stable orbit just outside the resonance; (iii) when the binary has initial eccentricity   e _bin≥ 0.2  , the disc becomes eccentric, leading to a stalling of the planet migration, and the formation of a stable circumbinary planet.
These results have implications for a number of issues in the study of extrasolar planets. The ejection of protoplanets in close binary systems provides a source of 'free-floating planets', which have been discovered recently. The formation of a large, tidally truncated cavity may provide an observational signature of circumbinary planets during formation. The existence of protoplanets orbiting stably just outside a mean motion resonance (4 : 1) in the simulations indicate that such sites may harbour planets in binary star systems, and these could potentially be observed. Finally, the formation of stable circumbinary planets in eccentric binary systems indicates that circumbinary planets may not be uncommon.     

The DODO survey – II. A Gemini direct imaging search for substellar and planetary mass companions around nearby equatorial and Northern hemisphere white dwarfs

The aim of the Degenerate Objects around Degenerate Objects (DODO) survey is to search for very low-mass brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets in wide orbits around white dwarfs via direct imaging. The direct detection of such companions would allow the spectroscopic investigation of objects with temperatures much lower  (<500 K)  than the coolest brown dwarfs currently observed. These ultra-low-mass substellar objects would have spectral types >T8.5, and so could belong to the proposed Y dwarf spectral sequence. The detection of a planet around a white dwarf would prove that such objects can survive the final stages of stellar evolution and place constraints on the frequency of planetary systems around their progenitors (with masses between 1.5 and 8   M_⊙  , i.e. early B to mid-F). This paper presents the results of a multi epoch J band common proper motion survey of 23 nearby equatorial and Northern hemisphere white dwarfs. We rule out the presence of any common proper motion companions, with limiting masses determined from the completeness limit of each observation, to 18 white dwarfs. For the remaining five targets, the motion of the white dwarf is not sufficiently separated from the non-moving background objects in each field. These targets require additional observations to conclusively rule out the presence of any common proper motion companions. From our completeness limits, we tentatively suggest that  ≲5 per cent  of white dwarfs have substellar companions with   T _eff≳ 500 K  between projected physical separations of 60–200 au.     

Planetary microlensing signals from the orbital motion of the source star around the common barycentre

With several detections, the technique of gravitational microlensing has proven useful for studying planets that orbit stars at Galactic distances, and it can even be applied to detect planets in neighbouring galaxies. So far, planet detections by microlensing have been considered to result from a change in the bending of light and the resulting magnification caused by a planet around the foreground lens star. However, in complete analogy to the annual parallax effect caused by the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, the motion of the source star around the common barycentre with an orbiting planet can also lead to observable deviations in microlensing light curves that can provide evidence for the unseen companion. We discuss this effect in some detail and study the prospects of microlensing observations for revealing planets through this alternative detection channel. Given that small distances between lens and source star are favoured, and that the effect becomes nearly independent of the source distance, planets would remain detectable even if their host star is located outside the Milky Way with a sufficiently good photometry (exceeding present-day technology) being possible. From synthetic light curves arising from a Monte Carlo simulation, we find that the chances for such detections are not overwhelming and appear practically limited to the most massive planets (at least with current observational set-ups), but they are large enough for leaving the possibility that one or the other signal has already been observed. However, it may remain undetermined whether the planet actually orbits the source star or rather the lens star, which leaves us with an ambiguity not only with respect to its location, but also to its properties.     

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope low-frequency observations of extrasolar planetary systems

Extrasolar planets are expected to emit detectable low-frequency radio emission. In this paper, we present results from new low-frequency observations of two extrasolar planetary systems (Epsilon Eridani and HD 128311) taken at 150 MHz with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). These two systems have been chosen because the stars are young (with ages <1 Gyr) and are likely to have strong stellar winds, which will increase the expected radio flux. The planets are massive (presumably) gas giant planets in longer period orbits, and hence will not be tidally locked to their host star (as is likely to be the case for short-period planets) and we would expect them to have a strong planetary dynamo and magnetic field. We do not detect either system, but are able to place tight upper limits on their low-frequency radio emission, at levels comparable to the theoretical predictions for these systems. From these observations, we have a 2.5σ limit of 7.8 mJy for ε Eri and 15.5 mJy for HD 128311. In addition, these upper limits also provide limits on the low-frequency radio emission from the stars themselves. These results are discussed and also the prospects for the future detection of radio emission from extrasolar planets.     

Magnetospheric radio emission from extrasolar giant planets: the role of the host stars

We present a new analysis of the expected magnetospheric radio emission from extrasolar giant planets (EGPs) for a distance limited sample of the nearest known extrasolar planets. Using recent results on the correlation between stellar X-ray flux and mass-loss rates from nearby stars, we estimate the expected mass-loss rates of the host stars of extrasolar planets that lie within 20 pc of the Earth. We find that some of the host stars have mass-loss rates that are more than 100 times that of the Sun and, given the expected dependence of the planetary magnetospheric radio flux on stellar wind properties, this has a very substantial effect. Using these results and extrapolations of the likely magnetic properties of the extrasolar planets, we infer their likely radio properties.
We compile a list of the most promising radio targets and conclude that the planets orbiting Tau Bootes, Gliese 86, Upsilon Andromeda and HD 1237 (as well as HD 179949) are the most promising candidates, with expected flux levels that should be detectable in the near future with upcoming telescope arrays. The expected emission peak from these candidate radio emitting planets is typically ∼40–50 MHz. We also discuss a range of observational considerations for detecting EGPs.     

Predictions for the frequency and orbital radii of massive extrasolar planets

We investigate the migration of massive extrasolar planets caused by gravitational interaction with a viscous protoplanetary disc. We show that a model in which planets form at 5 au at a constant rate, before migrating, leads to a predicted distribution of planets that is a steeply rising function of log( a ), where a is the orbital radius. Between 1 and 3 au, the expected number of planets per logarithmic interval in a roughly doubles. We demonstrate that, once selection effects are accounted for, this is consistent with current data, and then extrapolate the observed planet fraction to masses and radii that are inaccessible to current observations. In total, approximately 15 per cent of stars targeted by existing radial velocity searches are predicted to possess planets with masses  0.3< M _p sin( i )<10 M _J  and radii  0.1< a <5 au  . A third of these planets (around 5 per cent of the target stars) lie at the radii most amenable to detection via microlensing. A further  5–10  per cent of stars could have planets at radii of  5< a <8 au  that have migrated outwards. We discuss the probability of forming a system (akin to the Solar system) in which significant radial migration of the most massive planet does not occur. Approximately  10–15  per cent of systems with a surviving massive planet are estimated to fall into this class. Finally, we note that a smaller fraction of low-mass planets than high-mass planets is expected to survive without being consumed by the star. The initial mass function for planets is thus predicted to rise more steeply towards small masses than the observed mass function.     

Eccentricities of Planets in Binary Systems

The most puzzling property of the extrasolar planets discovered by recent radial velocity surveys is their high orbital eccentricities, which are very difficult to explain within our current theoretical paradigm for planet formation. Current data reveal that at least 25% of these planets, including some with particularly high eccentricities, are orbiting a component of a binary star system. The presence of a distant companion can cause significant secular perturbations in the orbit of a planet. At high relative inclinations, large-amplitude, periodic eccentricity perturbations can occur. These are known as “Kozai cycles” and their amplitude is purely dependent on the relative orbital inclination. Assuming that every planet host star also has a (possibly unseen, e.g., substellar) distant companion, with reasonable distributions of orbital parameters and masses, we determine the resulting eccentricity distribution of planets and compare it to observations? We find that perturbations from a binary companion always appear to produce an excess of planets with both very high (?0.6) and very low (e ? 0.1) eccentricities. The paucity of near-circular orbits in the observed sample implies that at least one additional mechanism must be increasing eccentricities. On the other hand, the overproduction of very high eccentricities observed in our models could be combined with plausible circularization mechanisms (e.g., friction from residual gas) to create more planets with intermediate eccentricities (e? 0.1–0.6).     

Planetary migration to large radii

There is evidence for the existence of massive planets at orbital radii of several hundred au from their parent stars where the time-scale for planet formation by core accretion is longer than the disc lifetime. These planets could have formed close to their star and then migrated outwards. We consider how the transfer of angular momentum by viscous disc interactions from a massive inner planet could cause significant outward migration of a smaller outer planet. We find that it is in principle possible for planets to migrate to large radii. We note, however, a number of effects which may render the process somewhat problematic.     

Star-like activity from a very young 'isolated planet'

The discovery of isolated bodies of planetary mass has challenged the paradigm that planets form only as companions to stars. To determine whether 'isolated planets', brown dwarfs and stars can have a common origin, we have made deep submillimetre observations of part of the ρ Oph B star formation region. Spectroscopy of the 9-Jupiter-mass core Oph B-11 has revealed carbon monoxide line wings such as those of a protostar. Moreover, the estimated mass of outflowing gas lies on the force versus core-mass relation for protostars and protobrown dwarfs. This is evidence for a common process that can form any object between planetary and stellar masses in a molecular cloud. In a submillimetre continuum map, six compact cores in ρ Oph B were found to have masses presently below the deuterium-burning limit, extending the core mass function down to  0.01 M_⊙  with the approximate form  d N /d M ∝ M ^−3/2  . If these lowest-mass cores are not transient and can collapse under gravity, then isolated planets should be very common in ρ Oph in the future, as is the case in the Orion star formation region. In fact, the isolated planetary objects that may form from these cores would outnumber the massive planets that have been found as companions to stars.     

The formation and stability of the configuration of the planetary system HD 126611

Recent Doppler velocity measurements have revealed the existence of two planets orbiting the star HD 12661 on medium-eccentricity orbits. The inner planet has a period of 263.6 d and a mass of 2.3 Jupiter masses, and the outer planet has a period of 1444.5d and a mass of 1.57 Jupiter masses. The stability of this system requires the two planets to be in a state of mean-motion orbit resonances. By numerical method we have studied the orbit migration and stability of the system in its early ages under the action of the proto-stellar disk, and calculated the probabilities of the planets being captured into the mean -motion resonances during their migrations. It is found that at present the two planets are probably situated at the edge of the 11:2 mean-motion resonance and are in chaotic motions. This result may be helpful to clarify the arguments on the present configuration. Besides, it is indicated that very probably, after the formation of the system, the gaseous disk has almost disappeared before the planets migrated to the present configuration.     

The role of cluster evolution in disrupting planetary systems and discs: the Kozai mechanism

We examine the effects of dynamical evolution in clusters on planetary systems or protoplanetary discs orbiting the components of binary stars. In particular, we look for evidence that the companions of host stars of planetary systems or discs could have their inclination angles raised from zero to between the threshold angles (39.23° and 140.77°) that can induce the Kozai mechanism. We find that up to 20 per cent of binary systems have their inclination angles increased to within the threshold range. Given that half of all extrasolar planets could be in binary systems, we suggest that up to 10 per cent of extrasolar planets could be affected by this mechanism.     

Planetary dynamics in stellar clusters

We investigate how the formation and evolution of extrasolar planetary systems can be affected by stellar encounters that occur in the crowded conditions of a stellar cluster. Using plausible estimates of cluster evolution, we show how planet formation may be suppressed in globular clusters while planets wider than ≳0.1 au that do form in such environments can be ejected from their stellar system. Less crowded systems such as open clusters have a much reduced effect on any planetary system. Planet formation is unaffected in open clusters and only the wider planetary systems will be disrupted during the cluster's lifetime. The potential for free-floating planets in these environments is also discussed.