Related papers: Have proto-planetary discs formed planets?
The long-term evolution of a circumstellar disk starting from its formation and ending in the T Tauri phase was simulated numerically with the purpose of studying the evolution of dust in the disk with distinct values of viscous…
(Abridged) We consider models of gas giant planets forming in protoplanetary disks consisting of solid cores with gaseous envelopes in contact with their critical Hill spheres while accreting gas from the surrounding disk.We suppose the…
Smaller terrestrial planets (< 0.3 Earth masses) are less likely to retain the substantial atmospheres and ongoing tectonic activity probably required to support life. A key element in determining if sufficiently massive "sustainably…
It has been recently proposed that giant protoplanets migrating inward through the disc more rapidly than they contract could be tidally disrupted when they fill their Roche lobes ~ 0.1 AU away from their parent protostars. Here we consider…
We reconsider the commonly held assumption that warm debris disks are tracers of terrestrial planet formation. The high occurrence rate inferred for Earth-mass planets around mature solar-type stars based on exoplanet surveys (roughly 20%)…
We investigate under what circumstances an embedded planet in a protoplanetary disc may sculpt the dust distribution such that it observationally presents as a `transition' disc. We concern ourselves with `transition' discs that have large…
It is well accepted that 'hot Jupiters' did not form in situ, as the temperature in the protoplanetary disc at the radius at which they now orbit would have been too high for planet formation to have occurred. These planets, instead, form…
Context. Current models of the size- and radial evolution of dust in protoplanetary disks generally oversimplify either the radial evolution of the disk (by focussing at one single radius or by using steady state disk models) or they assume…
Circumstantial evidence suggests that most known extra-solar planetary systems are survivors of violent dynamical instabilities. Here we explore how giant planet instabilities affect the formation and survival of terrestrial planets. We…
Protoplanetary disk evolution exhibits trends with stellar mass, but also diversity of structure, and lifetime, with implications for planet formation and demographics. We show how varied outcomes can result from evolving structures in the…
The core-accretion mechanism for gas giant formation may be too slow to create all observed gas giant planets during reasonable gas disk lifetimes, but it has yet to be firmly established that the disk instability model can produce…
(Abridged) We present CARMA observations of the thermal dust emission from the circumstellar disks around the young stars RYTau and DGTau at wavelengths of 1.3mm and 2.8mm. The angular resolution of the maps is as high as 0.15arcsec, or…
Dusty protoplanetary disks surrounding young low-mass stars are the birthplaces of planets. Studies of the evolutionary timescales of such disks provide important constraints on the timescales of planet formation. Binary companions,…
We model the evolution of a Jupiter-mass protoplanet formed by the disk instability mechanism at various radial distances accounting for the presence of the disk. Using three different disk models, it is found that a newly-formed…
More than 30 extra-solar Jupiter-like planets have shorter periods than the planet Mercury. It is generally accepted that they formed further out, and migrated inwards. In order to be driven by tidal torques from the gaseous disc, the disc…
Recent spectral observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) reveal that some discs around young ($\sim {\rm few} \times 10^6$ yr old) stars have remarkably sharp transitions to a low density inner region in which much of the material…
The observed dust rings and gaps in protoplanetary disks could be imprints of forming planets. Even low-mass planets in the one-to-ten Earth-mass regime, that do not yet carve deep gas gaps, can generate such dust rings and gaps by driving…
Planets have been detected around a variety of stars, including low-mass objects, such as brown dwarfs. However, such extreme cases are challenging for planet formation models. Recent sub-millimeter observations of disks around brown dwarf…
Residual gas in disks around young stars can spin down stars, circularize the orbits of terrestrial planets, and whisk away the dusty debris that is expected to serve as a signpost of terrestrial planet formation. We have carried out a…
Star formation often occurs within or nearby stellar clusters. Irradiation by nearby massive stars can photoevaporate protoplanetary disks around young stars (so-called proplyds) which raises questions regarding the ability of planet…