Issue |
A&A
Volume 637, May 2020
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A14 | |
Number of page(s) | 17 | |
Section | Planets and planetary systems | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202037514 | |
Published online | 05 May 2020 |
The grain size survival threshold in one-planet post-main-sequence exoplanetary systems
1
Department of Physics, School of Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
541 24
Thessaloniki, Greece
e-mail: evzotos@physics.auth.gr
2
Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick,
Coventry
CV4 7AL, UK
3
Department of Physics, University of Warwick,
Coventry
CV4 7AL, UK
e-mail: d.veras@warwick.ac.uk
Received:
16
January
2020
Accepted:
19
March
2020
The size distribution and orbital architecture of dust, grains, boulders, asteroids, and major planets during the giant branch phases of evolution dictate the preponderance and observability of the eventual debris, which have been found to surround white dwarfs and pollute their atmospheres with metals. Here, we utilize the photogravitational planar restricted three-body problem in one-planet giant branch systems in order to characterize the orbits of grains as the parent star luminosity and mass undergo drastic changes. We perform a detailed dynamical analysis of the character of grain orbits (collisional, escape, or bounded) as a function of location and energy throughout giant branch evolution. We find that for stars with main-sequence masses of 2.0 M⊙, giant branch evolution, combined with the presence of a planet, ubiquitously triggers escape in grains smaller than about 1 mm, while leaving grains larger than about 5 cm bound to the star. This result is applicable for systems with either a terrestrial or giant planet, is largely independent of the location of the planet, and helps establish a radiative size threshold for escape of small particles in giant branch planetary systems.
Key words: celestial mechanics / planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability / planet-star interactions / stars: AGB and post-AGB / zodiacal dust
© ESO 2020
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