4.6 Article

Collisional cascades in planetesimal disks. II. Embedded planets

Journal

ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL
Volume 127, Issue 1, Pages 513-530

Publisher

IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/379854

Keywords

circumstellar matter; planetary systems : general; solar system : formation; stars : formation

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We use a multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the growth of icy planets in the outer regions of a planetesimal disk. In a quiescent minimum-mass solar nebula, icy planets grow to sizes of 1000-3000 km on a timescale t(P) approximate to (15-20)[a/(30 AU)](3) Myr, where a is the distance from the central star. Planets form faster in more massive nebulae. Newly formed planets stir up leftover planetesimals along their orbits and produce a collisional cascade in which icy planetesimals are slowly ground to dust. The dusty debris of planet formation has physical characteristics similar to those observed in beta Pic and HR 4796A and other debris disks. The computed dust masses are M-d(r less than or similar to 1 mm) similar to 10(26)(M-0/M-MMSN) g and M-d(1 mm less than or similar to r less than or similar to 1 m) similar to 10(27)(M-0/M-MMSN) g, where r is the radius of a particle, M-0 is the initial mass in solids, and M-MMSN is the mass in solids of a minimum-mass solar nebula at 30-150 AU. The luminosity of the dusty disk relative to the stellar luminosity is L-D/L-0 similar toL(max)(t/t(0))(-m), where L-max similar to 10(-3)(M-0/M-MMSN), t(0) approximate to 10-1000 Myr, and m approximate to 1-2. Our calculations produce bright rings and dark gaps with sizes Deltaa/a approximate to 0.1. Bright rings occur where planets 1000 km and larger have recently formed. Dark gaps are regions where planets have cleared out dust, or shadows where planets have yet to form. Planets can also grow in a planetesimal disk perturbed by the close passage of a star. Stellar flybys initiate collisional cascades, which produce copious amounts of dust. The dust luminosity following a modest perturbation is 3-4 times larger than the maximum dust luminosity of a quiescent planet-forming disk. In 10 Myr or less, large perturbations remove almost all of the planetesimals from a disk. After a modest flyby, collisional damping reduces planetesimal velocities and allows planets to grow from the remaining planetesimals. Planet formation timescales are then 2-4 times longer than timescales for undisturbed disks; dust luminosities are 2-4 times smaller.

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