Models of the formation of the planets in the 47 UMa system

¹ Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center , Bartycka 18 , Warsaw, 00-716, Poland e-mail: kornet@camk.edu.pl; mnr@camk.edu.pl
² UCO/Lick Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz,CA 95064, USA e-mail: peter@ucolick.org

Corresponding author: K. Kornet, kornet@camk.edu.pl

Received: 26 July 2002
Accepted: 19 September 2002

Abstract

Formation of planets in the 47 UMa system is followed in an evolving protoplanetary disk composed of gas and solids. The evolution of the disk is calculated from an early stage, when all solids, assumed to be high-temperature silicates, are in the dust form, to the stage when most solids are locked in planetesimals. The simulation of planetary evolution starts with a solid embryo of ~1 Earth mass, and proceeds according to the core accretion – gas capture model. Orbital parameters are kept constant, and it is assumed that the environment of each planet is not perturbed by the second planet. It is found that conditions suitable for both planets to form within several Myr are easily created, and maintained throughout the formation time, in disks with . In such disks, a planet of 2.6 Jupiter masses (the minimum for the inner planet of the 47 UMa system) may be formed at 2.1 AU from the star in ~3 Myr, while a planet of 0.89 Jupiter masses (the minimum for the outer planet) may be formed at 3.95 AU from the star in about the same time. The formation of planets is possible as a result of a significant enhancement of the surface density of solids between 1.0 and 4.0 AU, which results from the evolution of a disk with an initially uniform gas-to-dust ratio of 167 and an initial radius of 40 AU.