Ji-Wei Xie and Ji-Lin Zhou 2009 ApJ 698 2066 doi:10.1088/0004-637X/698/2/2066
Ji-Wei Xie and Ji-Lin Zhou
Show affiliationsRecent observations show that planets can reside in close binary systems with stellar separation of only ~20 AU. However, planet formation in such close binary systems is a challenge to current theory. One of the major theoretical problems occurs in the intermediate stage—planetesimals accretion into planetary embryos—during which the companion's perturbations can stir up the relative velocities (
V) of planetesimals and thus slow down or even cease their growth. Recent studies have shown that conditions could be even worse for accretion if the gas-disk evolution was included. However, all previous studies assumed a two-dimensional disk and a coplanar binary orbit. Extending previous studies by including a three-dimensional gas disk and an inclined binary orbit with small relative inclination of iB = 0
1-5°, we numerically investigate the conditions for planetesimal accretion at 1-2 AU, an extension of the habitable zone (~1-1.3 AU), around α Centauri A in this paper. Inclusion of the binary inclination leads to the following: (1) differential orbital phasing is realized in the three-dimensional space, and thus different-sized bodies are separated from each other, (2) total impact rate is lower, and impacts mainly occur between similar-sized bodies, (3) accretion is more favored, but the balance between accretion and erosion remains uncertain, and the "possible accretion region" extends up to 2 AU when assuming an optimistic Q* (critical specific energy that leads to catastrophic fragmentation), and (4) impact velocities (
V) are significantly reduced but still much larger than their escape velocities, which infers that planetesimals grow by means of type II runaway mode. As a conclusion, the inclusion of a small binary inclination is a promising mechanism that favors accretion, opening a possibility that planet formation in close binary systems can go through the difficult stage of planetesimals accretion into planetary embryos.
Issue 2 (2009 June 20)
Received 2008 November 13, accepted for publication 2009 April 6
Published 2009 June 8
Ji-Wei Xie and Ji-Lin Zhou 2009 ApJ 698 2066
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