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From mean-motion resonances to scattered planets: Producing the Solar System, eccentric exoplanets and Late Heavy Bombardments

Authors :
Thommes, Edward W.
Bryden, Geoffrey
Wu, Yanqin
Rasio, Frederic A.
Publication Year :
2007

Abstract

We show that interaction with a gas disk may produce young planetary systems with closely-spaced orbits, stabilized by mean-motion resonances between neighbors. On longer timescales, after the gas is gone, interaction with a remnant planetesimal disk tends to pull these configurations apart, eventually inducing dynamical instability. We show that this can lead to a variety of outcomes; some cases resemble the Solar System, while others end up with high-eccentricity orbits reminiscent of the observed exoplanets. A similar mechanism has been previously suggested as the cause of the lunar Late Heavy Bombardment. Thus, it may be that a large-scale dynamical instability, with more or less cataclysmic results, is an evolutionary step common to many planetary systems, including our own.<br />Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, submitted to ApJ

Subjects

Subjects :
Astrophysics

Details

Database :
arXiv
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.0706.1235
Document Type :
Working Paper
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1086/525244