Jupiter and Saturns growth and migration: effect on planetesimals Sean Raymond 2017-07-05 | This simulation shows the effect of Jupiter and Saturn's migration (sequantial -- one planet migrating at a time) on the distribution of planetesimals in the disk. Objects from throughout the outer Solar System are implanted into the asteroid belt, and some are scattered onto orbits that cross the terrestrial planets (and delivered Earth's water). To be compared with this movie, in which Jup and Sat don't migrate: youtube.com/watch?v=Ji5ZC7CP5toAnd this movie of a simulation in which Jupiter and Saturn migrate simultaneously: youtu.be/iyPVOo8gTOQFrom Raymond & Izidoro (2017, Icarus, download here: arxiv.org/abs/1707.01234)
A 6-Earth horseshoe constellation of planets orbiting a sun-like star Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows six planets -- each the same mass and size as Earth -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.The left panel ("inertial frame") shows what the system looks like if you observed it from a distance. The right panel ("co-moving frame") shows the planets' motion if the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" because in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). In horseshoe constellation systems, each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a horseshoe turnaround.For more details, see: https://planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/c...From this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
A 4-planet horseshoe constellation: 2 Earths and 2 super-Earths sharing an orbit around a star Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows four planets -- two the mass of Earth and two that are 10 times more massive -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.This animation is shown in a "co-moving frame", in which the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" because in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). Each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a 'horseshoe' turnaround.For more details, see: https://planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/c...From this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
A 24-Earth horseshoe constellation of planets orbiting a Sun-like star Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows twenty-four planets -- each the same mass and size as Earth -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.This animation is shown in a "co-moving frame", in which the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" because in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). Each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a 'horseshoe' turnaround.For more details, see: https://planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/c...From this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
A 20-Earth horseshoe constellation of planets orbiting a Sun-like star Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows twenty planets -- each the same mass and size as Earth -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.This animation is shown in a "co-moving frame", in which the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" because in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). Each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a 'horseshoe' turnaround.For more details, see: https://planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/c...From this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
A 12-Earth horseshoe constellation Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows twelve planets -- each the same mass and size as Earth -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.This animation is shown in a "co-moving frame", in which the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" because in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). Each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a 'horseshoe' turnaround.For more details, see: https://planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/c...From this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
Four planets (each 1 Earth) sharing an orbit in a horseshoe constellation Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | This N-body simulation shows four planets -- each the same mass and size as Earth -- sharing an orbit of the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun.The left panel ("inertial frame") shows what the system looks like if you observed it from a distance. The right panel ("co-moving frame") shows the planets' motion if the camera rotates along with the planets around the star. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the planets' trajectories easier to see.We call this type of system a "horseshoe constellation" -- in the two-planet case the planets trace out a horseshoe shape (see youtu.be/n-hQoT3JLeU). In this case, each planet drifts slowly along the orbit until it encounters one of its neighbors, exchanges orbital energy and undergoes a horseshoe turnaround.For more details, see: planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/constellations-of-co-orbital-planetsFrom this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
Two Earth-mass planets sharing an orbit in a horseshoe configuration Sean Raymond 2023-02-23 | In this simulation, two planets -- each the same size and mass as Earth -- are sharing an orbit the same size as Earth's around a star like the Sun. The left panel ("inertial frame") shows what this system looks like if you observed it from a distance. The right panel ("co-moving frame") shows what it looks like if the camera is rotating along with the planets' mean motion around the star; each planet traces a horseshoe shape. The shift in distance from the star is exaggerated to make the horseshoe shapes easier to see.For more details, see: planetplanet.net/2023/04/20/constellations-of-co-orbital-planetsFrom this paper: arxiv.org/abs/2304.09209
An astronomy poem (illustrated excerpt from Black Holes, Stars, Earth and Mars) Sean Raymond 2020-10-22 | The video was created and beautifully narrated by Elizabeth Tasker, astrophysicist, author and science communicator (see http://girlandkat.com/). The poem is an except from the book Black Holes, Stars, Earth and Mars: Astronomy poems for all ages -- written by myself (Sean Raymond) and illustrated by my son, Owen, with a foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson. It is available on Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B08LFZZWGZ .
Effect of giant planet scattering (at 21 Myr) on the building blocks of rocky planets Sean Raymond 2020-07-07 | The movie shows the evolution of the orbital eccentricity vs. semi-major axis in a system with three gas giant planets (big black dots) and a population of rocky material that, left unperturbed, would form a system of terrestrial planets similar to the Solar System's. Vertical "error bars" denote sin(i) for terrestrial bodies more massive than 20% of Earth's mass. Colors denote water content, assuming a Solar System-like initial distribution (Raymond et al. 2004). The surviving terrestrial planet has a mass of 0.72 Earth masses, a stable orbit within the habitable zone (semimajor axis of 0.96 AU), and a high eccentricity and inclination (and large oscillations).For more, see "How Planets Die" on Planetplanet.net: planetplanet.net/2019/02/06/how-planets-die-when-good-jupiters-go-badAnimation from scientific paper by Raymond et al (2011, Astronomy & Astrophysics, see https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011A%26A...530A..62R/abstract).
Can moons orbit moons? the poem (by Sean Raymond) Sean Raymond 2019-01-22 | Lyrics at planetplanet.net/2019/01/23/submoon-poemBased on the paper "Can moons have moons?" by Juna Kollmeier and Sean Raymond, published in the Feb. 2019 issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. See academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article-abstract/483/1/L80/5195537?redirectedFrom=fulltext
A simulation that produced an analog to the Kepler-36 system Sean Raymond 2018-06-28 | Formation of a system of close-in planets. The simulation starts from conditions similar to those that (we think) formed the Solar System: a population of small rocky planetary embryos at Earth-like orbital separation and large ice-rich embryos in the Jupiter-Saturn region. These bodies are embedded in a protoplanetary disk (using the model of Bitsch et al 2015 and the prescriptions from Izidoro et al 2017). The embryos migrate because of interactions with the disk. The lines show contours of zero-migration. Planets migrate outward within (to the left of) the contour, and inward elsewhere.The two close-in planets that form are a good analog to the Kepler-36 system (Carter et al 2012). Despite the very close proximity of their final orbits, the inner planet is formed purely from rocky material and the outer one is predominantly icy.From Raymond et al (2018; downloadable here: arxiv.org/abs/1805.10345)
How a migrating gas giant affects the growth of rocky planets Sean Raymond 2018-06-01 | Long-term evolution of a simulation in which a Jupiter-mass planet (in black) migrates through a disk of rocky material. The migration happens super-fast (in the first hundred thousand years). The effects of gas drag are included until the disk dissipates after 10 Myr. The simulation formed two rocky planets of note: a very water-rich 3 Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone, and a very close-in super-Earth interior to the gas giant. References:Raymond, Mandell & Sigurdsson (2006), Science 313, 1413-1416.Mandell, Raymond & Sigurdsson (2007), ApJ, 660, 823-844.
How a migrating giant planet sculpts rocky material Sean Raymond 2018-06-01 | In this simulation, a Jupiter-mass gas giant planet (black) migrates through a disk of rocky material with different initial composition (colors = water content). The simulation includes gas drag from a protoplanetary disk (not shown). A large fraction of rocky material is pushed inward by the migrating giant, and the vertical lines correspond to specific resonances (the 3:2 and 2:1 mean motion resonances). From Raymond et al (2006, Science, 313, 1413), downloadable at arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0609253.
Super-fast in-situ formation of a super-Earth system Sean Raymond 2018-04-24 | An N-body simulation of planetary growth very close to a young star. This simulation was an attempt to match the Kepler-186 planetary system with five (known) planets. Starting from a disk of ~Mars-mass protoplanets, the growth of super-Earths is extremely fast, with Earth-mass objects forming within just a few thousand years. This simulation serves as an argument against the simple, in-situ growth model for super-Earths. Since the growth is so fast, super-Earths are massive while the gaseous planet-forming disk is still dense. Thus, super-Earths *must* migrate. But if they migrate, they did not form "in-situ".This simulation and others like it were published in Bolmont et al (2014, ApJ, see here: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJ...793....3B).
Kepler186 Sean Raymond 2018-03-16 | Animation of the Kepler-186 planetary system (details here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-186). The outermost planet, which is in the habitable zone, was discovered by Quintana et al (2014, Science, 344, 277-280). The bottom panel shows a simplified version of the signal used to find the planet using the transit method (data from the Kepler space telescope of course). Note the triple transit event on June 15, 2014 (for an explanation see planetplanet.net/2014/06/04/something-amazing-will-happen-on-june-15th-but-no-one-on-earth-will-see-it)
Capture of an exomoon during a gas giant fly-by Sean Raymond 2017-12-18 | A gas giant with four moons (separated by 90 degrees along the same orbit) orbits a Sun-like star. A second gas giant flies by extremely close, capturing one of the moons and freeing two others. From Hong, Raymond, Nicholson & Lunine, "Innocent Bystanders: Orbital Dynamics of Exomoons during Planet-Planet Scattering". Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal. Downloadable link:
Capture of an exomoon by an invading gas giant Sean Raymond 2017-12-18 | A gas giant with four moons (separated by 90 degrees along the same orbit) orbits a Sun-like star. A second gas giant flies by extremely close, capturing one of the moons and freeing two others. From Hong, Raymond, Nicholson & Lunine, "Innocent Bystanders: Orbital Dynamics of Exomoons during Planet-Planet Scattering". Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal. Downloadable link:
A planetary systems self-destruction Sean Raymond 2017-11-28 | The simulation starts with three components: 1) the building blocks of rocky/terrestrial planets close to the star, color-coded by their water contents; 2) three roughly Jupiter-mass gas giant planets; and 3) an outer disk of ice-rich planetesimals (which produce the dust flux spectrum in the upper right), similar to the progenitors of comets and Kuiper belt Object. The Sun-like star is located at 0.The rocky planets collide and grow until the giant planets' orbits become unstable. The gas giant instability sends most of the rocky material into the star and ejects most of the outer bodies into interstellar space (along with one of the gas giants). This represents a plausible origin for the interstellar object 'Oumuamua. From Raymond et al (2012, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 541, A11; downloadable here).
How S-types are scattered into the asteroid belt Sean Raymond 2017-09-14 | This animation simultaneously shows 50 simulations of terrestrial planet formation. The rocky planets grow from Mars-sized planetary embryos (black circles) and small planetesimals (red dots). Here we have assumed that the rocky building blocks all started in a narrow ring in the Venus-Earth zone. Some planetesimals are scattered out and trapped in the main asteroid belt as S-types (large red dots). The capture efficiency is small (less than 1 in 1000). This is from a subset of the simulations presented in "The Empty Primordial Asteroid Belt", by Sean N. Raymond & Andre Izidoro, published in Science Advances (see here: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/9/e1701138)
Jupiter and Saturns growth and migration: the effect on planetesimals Sean Raymond 2017-07-05 | This simulation shows the effect of Jupiter and Saturn's migration (simultaneous migration) on the distribution of planetesimals in the disk. Objects from throughout the outer Solar System are implanted into the asteroid belt, and some are scattered onto orbits that cross the terrestrial planets (and delivered Earth's water). To be compared with this movie, in which Jup and Sat don't migrate: youtube.com/watch?v=Ji5ZC7CP5toAnd this simulation, where the planets migrate one at a time: youtu.be/oBQqwfNLHugFrom Raymond & Izidoro (2017, Icarus, download here: arxiv.org/abs/1707.01234)
The classical model of terrestrial planet formation and water delivery Sean Raymond 2017-07-04 | In this animation, time zero is when the gaseous disk dissipates (a few million years after the start of planet formation). Jupiter is already-formed (shown as black circle to the right), and there is a disk of roughly 2000 planetary embryos spread between Mercury and Jupiter. The color corresponds to a body's water content: red is dry and blue is 5% water.The simulation forms 3 terrestrial planets: decent Earth and Venus analogs and a bad Mars analog. Water is delivered to the growing terrestrial planets from material that started in the outer asteroid belt, eventually providing 10-20 times Earth's present-day water budget.For details see Raymond et al (2006, Icarus, 183, 265-282, free download here: arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0510284)
Water-rich asteroids and Earths water as a byproduct of Jupiter and Saturns growth Sean Raymond 2017-07-04 | Origin of water in the inner Solar System. This animation shows the evolution of a simulation that shows how Jupiter and Saturn's growth affects the orbits of nearby planetesimals (colored by their starting orbital position). Jupiter and Saturn (black circles) start off as cores a few times more massive than Earth. Jupiter grows from 100 to 200 kyr and Saturn from 300 to 400. Small icy planetesimals rain down into the asteroid belt to be implanted as C-types through the action of aerodynamic gas drag. Some planetesimals are scattered past the asteroid belt, onto orbits that cross the growing terrestrial planets', delivering water to Earth (from the same reservoir as the C-types). From Raymond & Izidoro (2017, Icarus, download at arxiv.org/abs/1707.01234).
How Jupiter and Saturns growth implants C-type asteroids and delivers water to Earth. Sean Raymond 2017-07-04 | A simulation of how Jupiter and Saturn's growth affects the orbits of nearby planetesimals. Jupiter and Saturn (black circles) start off as cores. Jupiter grows from 100 to 200 kyr and Saturn from 300 to 400. Small icy bodies populate the asteroid belt (as C-types) and are also scattered onto orbits that cross the growing terrestrial planets', delivering water to Earth. From Raymond & Izidoro (2017, Icarus, downloadable here: arxiv.org/abs/1707.01234)
