Article,
Habitable Planet Formation in Binary-Planetary Systems
The Astrophysical Journal, 666 (1): 436--446 (Feb 27, 2007)
DOI: 10.1086/520501
Abstract
Recent radial velocity observations have indicated that Jovian-type planets
can exist in moderately close binary star systems. Numerical simulations of the
dynamical stability of terrestrial-class planets in such environments have
shown that, in addition to their giant planets, these systems can also harbor
Earth-like objects. In this paper, we study the late stage of terrestrial
planet formation in such binary-planetary systems, and present the results of
the simulations of the formation of Earth-like bodies in their habitable zones.
We consider a circumprimary disk of Moon- to Mars-sized objects and numerically
integrate the orbits of these bodies at the presence of the Jovian-type planet
of the system and for different values of the mass, semimajor axis, and orbital
eccentricity of the secondary star. Results indicate that, Earth-like objects,
with substantial amounts of water, can form in the habitable zone of the
primary star. Simulations also indicate that, by transferring angular momentum
from the secondary star to protoplanetary objects, the giant planet of the
system plays a key role in the radial mixing of these bodies and the water
contents of the final terrestrial planets. We will discuss the results of our
simulation and show that the formation of habitable planets in binary-planetary
systems is more probable in binaries with moderate to large perihelia.
