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Register a new userThe Impact of Stellar Clustering on the Observed Multiplicity and Orbital Periods of Planetary Systems
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It has recently been shown that stellar clustering plays an important role in shaping the properties of planetary systems. We investigate how the multiplicity distributions and orbital periods of planetary systems depend on the 6D phase space density of stars surrounding planet host systems. We find that stars in high stellar phase space density environments (overdensities) have a factor 1.6 - 2.0 excess in the number of single planet systems compared to stars in low stellar phase space density environments (the field). The multiplicity distribution of planets around field stars is much flatter (i.e. there is a greater fraction of multi-planet systems) than in overdensities. This result is primarily driven by the combined facts that: (i) `hot Jupiters (HJs) are almost exclusively found in overdensities; (ii) HJs are predominantly observed to be single-planet systems. Nevertheless, we find that the difference in multiplicity is even more pronounced when only considering planets in the Kepler sample, which contains few HJs. This suggests that the Kepler dichotomy -- an apparent excess of systems with a single transiting planet -- plausibly arises from environmental perturbations. In overdensities, the orbital periods of single-planet systems are smaller than orbital periods of multiple-planet systems. As this difference is more pronounced in overdensities, the mechanism responsible for this effect may be enhanced by stellar clustering. Taken together, the pronounced dependence of planetary multiplicity and orbital period distributions on stellar clustering provides a potentially powerful tool to diagnose the impact of environment on the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
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A recent study suggests that the observed multiplicity of super-Earth (SE) systems is correlated with stellar clustering: stars in high phase-space density environments have an excess of single-planet systems compared to stars in low density fields. This correlation is puzzling as stellar clustering is expected to influence mostly the outer part of planetary systems. Here we examine the possibility that stellar flybys indirectly excite the mutual inclinations of initially coplanar SEs, breaking their co-transiting geometry. We propose that flybys excite the inclinations of exterior substellar companions, which then propagate the perturbation to the inner SEs. Using analytical calculations of the secular coupling between SEs and companions, together with numerical simulations of stellar encounters, we estimate the expected number of effective flybys per planetary system that lead to the destruction of the SE co-transiting geometry. Our analytical results can be rescaled easily for various SE and companion properties (masses and semi-major axes) and stellar cluster parameters (density, velocity dispersion and lifetime). We show that for a given SE system, there exists an optimal companion architecture that leads to the maximum number of effective flybys; this results from the trade-off between the flyby cross section and the companions impact on the inner system. Subject to uncertainties in the cluster parameters, we conclude that this mechanism is inefficient if the SE system has a single exterior companion, but may play an important role in SE + two companions systems that were born in dense stellar clusters.
Revealing the mechanisms shaping the architecture of planetary systems is crucial for our understanding of their formation and evolution. In this context, it has been recently proposed that stellar clustering might be the key in shaping the orbital architecture of exoplanets. The main goal of this work is to explore the factors that shape the orbits of planets. We used a homogeneous sample of relatively young FGK dwarf stars with RV detected planets and tested the hypothesis that their association to phase space (position-velocity) over-densities (cluster stars) and under-densities (field stars) impacts the orbital periods of planets. When controlling for the host star properties, on a sample of 52 planets orbiting around cluster stars and 15 planets orbiting around field star, we found no significant difference in the period distribution of planets orbiting these two populations of stars. By considering an extended sample of 73 planets orbiting around cluster stars and 25 planets orbiting field stars, a significant different in the planetary period distributions emerged. However, the hosts associated to stellar under-densities appeared to be significantly older than their cluster counterparts. This did not allow us to conclude whether the planetary architecture is related to age, environment, or both. We further studied a sample of planets orbiting cluster stars to study the mechanism responsible for the shaping of orbits of planets in similar environments. We could not identify a parameter that can unambiguously be responsible for the orbital architecture of massive planets, perhaps, indicating the complexity of the issue. Conclusions. Increased number of planets in clusters and in over-density environments will help to build large and unbiased samples which will then allow to better understand the dominant processes shaping the orbits of planets.
Planet formation is generally described in terms of a system containing the host star and a protoplanetary disc, of which the internal properties (e.g. mass and metallicity) determine the properties of the resulting planetary system. However, (proto)planetary systems are predicted and observed to be affected by the spatially-clustered stellar formation environment, either through dynamical star-star interactions or external photoevaporation by nearby massive stars. It is challenging to quantify how the architecture of planetary systems is affected by these environmental processes, because stellar groups spatially disperse within <1 billion years, well below the ages of most known exoplanets. Here we identify old, co-moving stellar groups around exoplanet host stars in the astrometric data from the Gaia satellite and demonstrate that the architecture of planetary systems exhibits a strong dependence on local stellar clustering in position-velocity phase space, implying a dependence on their formation or evolution environment. After controlling for host stellar age, mass, metallicity, and distance from the Sun, we obtain highly significant differences (with $p$-values of $10^{-5}{-}10^{-2}$) in planetary (system) properties between phase space overdensities and the field. The median semi-major axis and orbital period of planets in overdensities are 0.087 au and 9.6 days, respectively, compared to 0.81 au and 154 days for planets around field stars. Hot Jupiters (massive, close-in planets) predominantly exist in stellar phase space overdensities, strongly suggesting that their extreme orbits originate from environmental perturbations rather than internal migration or planet-planet scattering. Our findings reveal that stellar clustering is a key factor setting the architectures of planetary systems.
The dynamical influence of binary companions is expected to profoundly influence planetary systems. However, the difficulty of identifying planets in binary systems has left the magnitude of this effect uncertain; despite numerous theoretical hurdles to their formation and survival, at least some binary systems clearly host planets. We present high-resolution imaging of 382 Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) obtained using adaptive-optics imaging and nonredundant aperture-mask interferometry (NRM) on the Keck-II telescope. Among the full sample of 506 candidate binary companions to KOIs, we super-resolve some binary systems to projected separations of <5 AU, showing that planets might form in these dynamically active environments. However, the full distribution of projected separations for our planet-host sample more broadly reveals a deep paucity of binary companions at solar-system scales. For a field binary population, we should have found 58 binary companions with projected separation rho < 50 AU and mass ratio q > 0.4; we instead only found 23 companions (a 4.6 sigma deficit), many of which must be wider pairs that are only close in projection. When the binary population is parametrized with a semimajor axis cutoff a_cut and a suppression factor inside that cutoff S_bin, we find with correlated uncertainties that inside a_cut = 47 +59/-23 AU, the planet occurrence rate in binary systems is only S_bin = 0.34 +0.14/-0.15 times that of wider binaries or single stars. Our results demonstrate that a fifth of all solar-type stars in the Milky Way are disallowed from hosting planetary systems due to the influence of a binary companion.
Star and planet formation are inextricably linked. In the earliest phases of the collapse of a protostar a disc forms around the young star and such discs are observed for the first several million years of a stars life. It is within these circumstellar, or protoplanetary, discs that the first stages of planet formation occur. Recent observations from ALMA suggest that planet formation may already be well under way after only 1 Myr of a stars life. However, stars do not form in isolation; they form from the collapse and fragmentation of giant molecular clouds several parsecs in size. This results in young stars forming in groups - often referred to as clusters. In these star-forming regions the stellar density is much higher than the location of the Sun, and other stars in the Galactic disc that host exoplanets. As such, the environment where stars form has the potential to influence the planet formation process. In star-forming regions, protoplanetary discs can be truncated or destroyed by interactions with passing stars, as well as photoevaporation from the radiation fields of very massive stars. Once formed, the planets themselves can have their orbits altered by dynamical encounters - either directly from passing stars or through secondary effects such as the Kozai-Lidov mechanism. In this contribution, I review the different processes that can affect planet formation and stability in star-forming regions. I discuss each process in light of the typical range of stellar densities observed for star-forming regions. I finish by discussing these effects in the context of theories for the birth environment of the Solar System.
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