scholarly journals Connecting planet formation and astrochemistry

2019 ◽  
Vol 632 ◽  
pp. A63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Cridland ◽  
Ewine F. van Dishoeck ◽  
Matthew Alessi ◽  
Ralph E. Pudritz

To understand the role that planet formation history has on the observable atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) we have produced a population of astrochemically evolving protoplanetary disks. Based on the parameters used in a pre-computed population of growing planets, their combination allows us to trace the molecular abundances of the gas that is being collected into planetary atmospheres. We include atmospheric pollution of incoming (icy) planetesimals as well as the effect of refractory carbon erosion noted to exist in our own solar system. We find that the carbon and oxygen content of Neptune-mass planets are determined primarily through solid accretion and result in more oxygen-rich (by roughly two orders of magnitude) atmospheres than hot Jupiters, whose C/O are primarily determined by gas accretion. Generally we find a “main sequence” between the fraction of planetary mass accreted through solid accretion and the resulting atmospheric C/O; planets of higher solid accretion fraction have lower C/O. Hot Jupiters whose atmospheres have been chemically characterized agree well with our population of planets, and our results suggest that hot-Jupiter formation typically begins near the water ice line. Lower mass hot Neptunes are observed to be much more carbon rich (with 0.33 ≲ C/O ≲ 1) than is found in our models (C/O ~ 10−2), and suggest that some form of chemical processing may affect their observed C/O over the few billion years between formation and observation. Our population reproduces the general mass-metallicity trend of the solar system and qualitatively reproduces the C/O metallicity anti-correlation that has been inferred for the population of characterized exoplanetary atmospheres.

Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Bisikalo ◽  
Pavel V. Kaygorodov ◽  
Valery I. Shematovich

The history of exoplanetary atmospheres studies is strongly based on the observations and investigations of the gaseous envelopes of hot Jupiters—exoplanet gas giants that have masses comparable to the mass of Jupiter and orbital semi-major axes shorter than 0.1 AU. The first exoplanet around a solar-type star was a hot Jupiter discovered in 1995. Researchers found an object that had completely atypical parameters compared to planets known in the solar system. According to their estimates, the object might have a mass about a half of the Jovian mass and a very short orbital period (four days), which means that it has an orbit roughly corresponding to the orbit of Mercury. Later, many similar objects were discovered near different stars, and they acquired a common name—hot Jupiters. It is still unclear what the mechanism is for their origin, because generally accepted theories of planetary evolution predict the formation of giant planets only at large orbital distances, where they can accrete enough matter before the protoplanetary disc disappears. If this is true, before arriving at such low orbits, hot Jupiters might have a long migration path, caused by interactions with other massive planets and/or with the gaseous disc. In favor of this model is the discovery of many hot Jupiters in elliptical and highly inclined orbits, but on the other hand several observed hot Jupiters have circular orbits with low inclination. An alternative hypothesis is that the cores of future hot Jupiters are super-Earths that may later intercept matter from the protoplanetary disk falling on the star. The scientific interest in hot Jupiters has two aspects. The first is the peculiarity of these objects: they have no analogues in the solar system. The second is that, until recently, only for hot Jupiters was it possible to obtain observational characteristics of their atmospheres. Many of the known hot Jupiters are eclipsing their host stars, so, from their light curve and spectral data obtained during an eclipse, it became possible to obtain information about their shape and their atmospheric composition. Thus it is possible to conclude that hot Jupiters are a common type of exoplanet, having no analogues in the solar system. Many aspects of their evolution and internal structure remain unclear. Being very close to their host stars, hot Jupiters must interact with the stellar wind and stellar magnetic field, as well as with stellar flares and coronal mass ejections, allowing researchers to gather information about them. According to UV observations, at least a fraction of hot Jupiters have extended gaseous envelopes, extending far beyond of their upper atmospheres. The envelopes are observable with current astronomical instruments, so it is possible to develop their astrophysical models. The history of hot Jupiter atmosphere studies during the past 20 years and the current status of modern theories describing the extended envelopes of hot Jupiters are excellent examples of the progress in understanding planetary atmospheres formation and evolution both in the solar system and in the extrasolar planetary systems.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evert Nasedkin ◽  
Paul Molliere ◽  

<p>The four planets of the HR8799 system provide a benchmark for directly imaged exoplanets. As these planets share a formation history, variations between the planet’s atmospheric properties - likely tracing their individual formation pathways - could provide insight into the details of the process of planet formation. In order explore these atmospheres and their evolution, we use new data obtained with the GRAVITY instrument at the VLTI as part of the ExoGRAVITY campaign, combined with data from SPHERE, GPI, CHARIS, ALES and OSIRIS in order to provide the best picture of the planetary atmospheres across a broad wavelength range. Using petitRADTRANS in a Bayesian retrieval framework, we compare a suite of state-of-the-art models applied to each of the targets in order to measure atmospheric properties such as metallicity, molecular abundances, and the C/O ratio, which is a well known tracer of the formation history. In this talk I will describe the data processing and modelling efforts which allow us to peer into the atmospheres of the HR8799 planets, and will outline the steps needed to tie the newly retrieved planetary properties to the formation history of the system.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander J. Cridland ◽  
Arthur D. Bosman ◽  
Ewine F. van Dishoeck

Recent theoretical, numerical, and observational works have suggested that when a growing planet opens a gap in its disk the flow of gas into the gap is dominated by gas falling vertically from a height of at least one gas scale height. Our primary objective is to include, for the first time, the chemical impact that accreting gas above the midplane will have on the resulting carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O). We compute the accretion of gas onto planetary cores beginning at different disk radii and track the chemical composition of the gas and small icy grains to predict the resulting C/O in their atmospheres. In our model, all of the planets which began their evolution inward of 60 AU open a gap in the gas disk, and hence are chemically affected by the vertically accreting gas. Two important conclusions follow from this vertical flow: (1) more oxygen-rich icy dust grains become available for accretion onto the planetary atmosphere; (2) the chemical composition of the gas dominates the final C/O of planets in the inner (<20 AU) part of the disk. This implies that with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope we can trace the disk material that sets the chemical composition of exoplanetary atmospheres.


2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander J. Cridland ◽  
Christian Eistrup ◽  
Ewine F. van Dishoeck

Combining a time-dependent astrochemical model with a model of planet formation and migration, we compute the carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) of a range of planetary embryos starting their formation in the inner solar system (1–3 AU). Most of the embryos result in hot Jupiters (M ≥ MJ, orbital radius <0.1 AU) while the others result in super-Earths at wider orbital radii. The volatile and ice abundance of relevant carbon and oxygen bearing molecular species are determined through a complex chemical kinetic code that includes both gas and grain surface chemistry. This is combined with a model for the abundance of the refractory dust grains to compute the total carbon and oxygen abundance in the protoplanetary disk available for incorporation into a planetary atmosphere. We include the effects of the refractory carbon depletion that has been observed in our solar system, and posit two models that would put this missing carbon back into the gas phase. This excess gaseous carbon then becomes important in determining the final planetary C/O because the gas disk now becomes more carbon rich relative to oxygen (high gaseous C/O). One model, where the carbon excess is maintained throughout the lifetime of the disk results in hot Jupiters that have super-stellar C/O. The other model deposits the excess carbon early in the disk life and allows it to advect with the bulk gas. In this model the excess carbon disappears into the host star within 0.8 Myr, returning the gas disk to its original (substellar) C/O, so the hot Jupiters all exclusively have substellar C/O. This shows that while the solids tend to be oxygen rich, hot Jupiters can have super-stellar C/O if a carbon excess can be maintained by some chemical processing of the dust grains. The atmospheric C/O of the super-Earths at larger radii are determined by the chemical interactions between the gas and ice phases of volatile species rather than the refractory carbon model. Whether the carbon and oxygen content of the atmosphere was accreted primarily by gas or solid accretion is heavily dependent on the mass of the atmosphere and where in the disk the growing planet accreted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. H. S. Chan ◽  
A. Stephant ◽  
I. A. Franchi ◽  
X. Zhao ◽  
R. Brunetto ◽  
...  

AbstractUnderstanding the true nature of extra-terrestrial water and organic matter that were present at the birth of our solar system, and their subsequent evolution, necessitates the study of pristine astromaterials. In this study, we have studied both the water and organic contents from a dust particle recovered from the surface of near-Earth asteroid 25143 Itokawa by the Hayabusa mission, which was the first mission that brought pristine asteroidal materials to Earth’s astromaterial collection. The organic matter is presented as both nanocrystalline graphite and disordered polyaromatic carbon with high D/H and 15N/14N ratios (δD =  + 4868 ± 2288‰; δ15N =  + 344 ± 20‰) signifying an explicit extra-terrestrial origin. The contrasting organic feature (graphitic and disordered) substantiates the rubble-pile asteroid model of Itokawa, and offers support for material mixing in the asteroid belt that occurred in scales from small dust infall to catastrophic impacts of large asteroidal parent bodies. Our analysis of Itokawa water indicates that the asteroid has incorporated D-poor water ice at the abundance on par with inner solar system bodies. The asteroid was metamorphosed and dehydrated on the formerly large asteroid, and was subsequently evolved via late-stage hydration, modified by D-enriched exogenous organics and water derived from a carbonaceous parent body.


Author(s):  
O. Mousis ◽  
D. H. Atkinson ◽  
R. Ambrosi ◽  
S. Atreya ◽  
D. Banfield ◽  
...  

AbstractRemote sensing observations suffer significant limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our Solar System. This impacts our knowledge of the formation of these planets and the physics of their atmospheres. A remarkable example of the superiority of in situ probe measurements was illustrated by the exploration of Jupiter, where key measurements such as the determination of the noble gases’ abundances and the precise measurement of the helium mixing ratio were only made available through in situ measurements by the Galileo probe. Here we describe the main scientific goals to be addressed by the future in situ exploration of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, placing the Galileo probe exploration of Jupiter in a broader context. An atmospheric entry probe targeting the 10-bar level would yield insight into two broad themes: i) the formation history of the giant planets and that of the Solar System, and ii) the processes at play in planetary atmospheres. The probe would descend under parachute to measure composition, structure, and dynamics, with data returned to Earth using a Carrier Relay Spacecraft as a relay station. An atmospheric probe could represent a significant ESA contribution to a future NASA New Frontiers or flagship mission to be launched toward Saturn, Uranus, and/or Neptune.


2005 ◽  
Vol 620 (2) ◽  
pp. 1027-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Wang ◽  
R. C. Bell ◽  
M. J. Iedema ◽  
A. A. Tsekouras ◽  
J. P. Cowin
Keyword(s):  

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (S310) ◽  
pp. 194-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean N. Raymond ◽  
Alessandro Morbidelli

AbstractThe “Grand Tack” model proposes that the inner Solar System was sculpted by the giant planets' orbital migration in the gaseous protoplanetary disk. Jupiter first migrated inward then Jupiter and Saturn migrated back outward together. If Jupiter's turnaround or “tack” point was at ~ 1.5 AU the inner disk of terrestrial building blocks would have been truncated at ~ 1 AU, naturally producing the terrestrial planets' masses and spacing. During the gas giants' migration the asteroid belt is severely depleted but repopulated by distinct planetesimal reservoirs that can be associated with the present-day S and C types. The giant planets' orbits are consistent with the later evolution of the outer Solar System.Here we confront common criticisms of the Grand Tack model. We show that some uncertainties remain regarding the Tack mechanism itself; the most critical unknown is the timing and rate of gas accretion onto Saturn and Jupiter. Current isotopic and compositional measurements of Solar System bodies – including the D/H ratios of Saturn's satellites – do not refute the model. We discuss how alternate models for the formation of the terrestrial planets each suffer from an internal inconsistency and/or place a strong and very specific requirement on the properties of the protoplanetary disk.We conclude that the Grand Tack model remains viable and consistent with our current understanding of planet formation. Nonetheless, we encourage additional tests of the Grand Tack as well as the construction of alternate models.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Pino ◽  
Matteo Brogi ◽  
Jean-Michel Désert ◽  
Emily Rauscher

&lt;p&gt;Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs; T&lt;sub&gt;eq&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;#8805; 2500 K) are the hottest gaseous giants known. They emerged as ideal laboratories to test theories of atmospheric structure and its link to planet formation. Indeed, because of their high temperatures, (1) they likely host atmospheres in chemical equilibrium and (2) clouds do not form in their day-side. Their continuum, which can be measured with space-facilities, can be mostly attributed to H- opacity, an indicator of metallicity. From the ground, the high spectral resolution emission spectra of UHJs contains thousands of lines of refractory (Fe, Ti, TiO, &amp;#8230;) and volatile species (OH, CO, &amp;#8230;), whose combined atmospheric abundances could track planet formation history in a unique way. In this talk, we take a deeper look to the optical emission spectrum of KELT-9b covering planetary phases 0.25 - 0.75 (i.e. between secondary eclipse and quadrature), and search for the effect of atmospheric dynamics and three-dimensionality of the planet atmosphere on the resolved line profiles, in the context of a consolidated statistical framework. We discuss the suitability of the traditionally adopted 1D models to interprete phase-resolved observations of ultra-hot Jupiters, and the potential of this kind of observations to probe their 3D atmospheric structure and dynamics. Ultimately, understanding which factors affect the line-shape in UHJs will also lead to more accurate and more precise abundance measurements, opening a new window on exoplanet formation and evolution.&lt;/p&gt;


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