Formation of the resonant system HD 60532

¹ Max Planck Research Group at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: sandor@mpia.de
² Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany e-mail: wilhelm.kley@uni-tuebingen.de

Received: 15 January 2010
Accepted: 20 March 2010

Abstract

Context. Among multi-planet planetary systems there are a large fraction of resonant systems. Studying the dynamics and formation of these systems can provide valuable informations on processes taking place in protoplanetary disks where the planets are thought have been formed. The recently discovered resonant system HD 60532 is the only confirmed case, in which the central star hosts a pair of giant planets in 3:1 mean motion resonance.

Aims. We intend to provide a physical scenario for the formation of HD 60532, which is consistent with the orbital solutions derived from the radial velocity measurements. Observations indicate that the system is in an antisymmetric configuration, while previous theroretical investigations indicate an asymmetric equilibrium state. The paper aims at answering this discrepancy as well.

Methods. We performed two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of thin disks with an embedded pair of massive planets. Additionally, migration and resonant capture are studied by gravitational N-body simulations that apply properly parametrized non-conservative forces.

Results. Our simulations suggest that the capture into the 3:1 mean motion resonance takes place only for higher planetary masses, thus favouring orbital solutions having relatively smaller inclination (i = ). The system formed by numerical simulations qualitatively show the same behaviour as HD 60532. We also find that the presence of an inner disk (between the inner planet and the star) plays a very important role in determining the final configurations of resonant planetary systems. Its damping effect on the inner planet's eccentricity is responsible for the observed antisymmetric state of HD 60532.

Conclusions.