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Production of Star-Grazing and Star-Impacting Planetestimals via Orbital Migration of Extrasolar PlanetsDuring the orbital migration of a giant extrasolar planet via ejection of planetesimals (as studied by Murray et al. in 1998), inner mean-motion resonances can be strong enough to cause planetesimals to graze or impact the star. We integrate numerically the motions of particles which pass through the 3:1 or 4:1 mean-motion resonances of a migrating Jupiter-mass planet. We find that many particles can be trapped in the 3:1 or 4:1 resonances and pumped to high enough eccentricities that they impact the star. This implies that for a planet migrating a substantial fraction of its semimajor axis, a fraction of its mass in planetesimals could impact the star. This process may be capable of enriching the metallicity of the star at a time when the star is no longer fully convective. Upon close approaches to the star, the surfaces of these planetesimals will be sublimated. Orbital migration should cause continuing production of evaporating bodies, suggesting that this process should be detectable with searches for transient absorption lines in young stars. The remainder of the particles will not impact the star but can be ejected subsequently by the planet as it migrates further inward. This allows the planet to migrate a substantial fraction of its initial semimajor axis by ejecting planetesimals.
Document ID
20040074122
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Quillen, A. C.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Holman, M.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Publication Information
Publication: The Astronomical Journal
Volume: 119
Subject Category
Astronomy
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-10365
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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