Related papers: Formation and Migration of Trans-Neptunian Objects
Context: Pebble accretion is expected to be the dominant process for the formation of massive solid planets, such as the cores of giant planets and super-Earths. So, far, this process has been studied under the assumption that dust…
A planet orbiting in a disk of planetesimals can experience an instability in which it migrates to smaller orbital radii. Resonant interactions between the planet and planetesimals remove angular momentum from the planetesimals, increasing…
The presence of rings and gaps in protoplanetary discs are often ascribed to planet-disc interactions, where dust and pebbles are trapped at the edges of planetary induced gas gaps. Recent work has shown that these are likely sites for…
Planets of 1-4 times Earth's size on orbits shorter than 100 days exist around 30-50% of all Sun-like stars. In fact, the Solar System is particularly outstanding in its lack of "hot super-Earths" (or "mini-Neptunes"). These planets -- or…
The formation of planets depends on the underlying protoplanetary disc structure, which influences both the accretion and migration rates of embedded planets. The disc itself evolves on time-scales of several Myr during which both…
In models of planetary accretion, pebbles form by dust coagulation and rapidly migrate toward the central star. Planetesimals may continuously form from pebbles over the age of the protoplanetary disk by yet uncertain mechanisms. Meanwhile,…
The size distribution of asteroids in the solar system suggests that they formed top-down, with 100-1000 km bodies forming from the gravitational collapse of dense clumps of small solid particles. We investigate the conditions under which…
We propose a planet formation scenario to explain the elevated occurrence rates of transiting planets around M dwarfs compared to sun-like stars discovered by Kepler. We use a pebble drift and accretion model to simulate the growth of…
The recently discovered circumbinary planets (Kepler-16 b, Kepler-34 b, Kepler-35 b) represent the first direct evidence of the viability of planet formation in circumbinary orbits. We report on the results of N-body simulations…
The recent discovery of tens of Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) in the Orion Nebula Cluster with the James Webb Space Telescope has intensified the debate on the origin of free-floating planetary mass objects within star-forming…
We report the discovery of the first trans-neptunian object, designated 2004 XR190, with a nearly-cirular orbit beyond the 2:1 mean-motion resonance. Fitting an orbit to 23 astrometric observations spread out over 12 months yields an orbit…
In recent years a paradigm shift has occurred in exoplanet science, wherein low-mass stars are increasingly viewed as a foundational pillar of the search for potentially habitable worlds in the solar neighborhood. However, the formation…
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are remnants of a collisionally and dynamically evolved planetesimal disk in the outer solar system. This complex structure, known as the trans-Neptunian belt (or Edgeworth-Kuiper belt), can reveal important…
The statistics of extrasolar planetary systems indicate that the default mode of planet formation generates planets with orbital periods shorter than 100 days, and masses substantially exceeding that of the Earth. When viewed in this…
The dust disk around Beta Pic must be produced by collision or by evaporation of orbiting Kuiper belt-like objects. Here we present the Orbiting-Evaporating-Bodies scenario in which the disk is a gigantic multi-cometary tail supplied by…
I discuss the role that disc fragmentation plays in the formation of gas giant and terrestrial planets, and how this relates to the formation of brown dwarfs and low-mass stars, and ultimately to the process of star formation. Protostellar…
Kepler planets (including super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, from 1 to 4 Earth radii) are likely formed before the gaseous proto-planetary disks have dissipated, as are the Jovian planets. If the metal content in these disks resembles that in…
Numerical simulations, based on the core-nucleated accretion model, are presented for the formation of Jupiter at 5.2 AU in 3 primordial disks with three different assumed values of the surface density of solid particles. The grain…
Super-Earths are found in tighter orbits than the Earth's around more than one third of main sequence stars. It has been proposed that super-Earths are scaled-up terrestrial planets that formed similarly, through mutual accretion of…
The discovery that many trans-neptunian objects exist in pairs, or binaries, is proving invaluable for shedding light on the formation, evolution and structure of the outer Solar system. Based on recent systematic searches it has been…