Dynamics of the β Pictoris planetary system and possibility of an additional planet

¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
² Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
³ Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

^★ Corresponding author; antoine.lacquement@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Received: 16 October 2024
Accepted: 27 December 2024

Abstract

Context. The β Pictoris system is a well-known young planetary system, extensively studied for more than 40 years. It is characterized by a dusty debris disk, in addition to the presence of two already known planets. This makes it a particularly interesting case for studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems at a stage where giant planets have already formed, most of the protoplanetary gas has dissipated, and terrestrial planets could emerge.

Aims. Our goal here is to explore the possibility of additional planets orbiting beyond the outermost known one, β Pictoris b. More specifically, we aim to assess whether additional planets in the system could explain the discrepancy between the predicted cutoff of the disk inner cavity at ~28 au with only two planets, and the observed one at ~50 au.

Methods. We performed an exhaustive dynamical modeling of the debris disk and the carving of its inner edge, by introducing one or two additional planets beyond β Pictoris b, coplanar with the disk. Guided by theoretical predictions for the parameter space – mass, semi-major axis, eccentricity – allowed for additional planets, we further carried out a set of N-body simulations, using the symplectic integrator RMVS3.

Results. Our simulations indicate that an additional planet with a low eccentricity of 0.05, a mass between 0.15 and 1 M_Jup, and a semi-major axis between 30 and 36 au would be consistent with the observations of an inner debris disk edge at 50 au. We also explored the hypotheses of a higher eccentricity and the presence of two additional lower-mass planets instead of one, which could also account for these observations.

Conclusions. While we find that one or even two additional planets could explain the observed location of the disk inner edge, these hypothetical planets remain in most cases below the current observational limits of high-contrast imaging. Future observational campaigns with improved sensitivity will help to lower these limits and perhaps detect that planet.