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Alexander Mustill. Profile picture.

Alexander Mustill

Researcher

Alexander Mustill. Profile picture.

The great escape: how exoplanets and smaller bodies desert dying stars

Author

  • Dimitri Veras
  • Mark C Wyatt
  • Alexander Mustill
  • Amy Bonsor
  • John J Eldridge

Summary, in English

Mounting discoveries of extrasolar planets orbiting post-main-sequence stars motivate studies to understand the fate of these planets. In the traditional 'adiabatic' approximation, a secondary's eccentricity remains constant during stellar mass-loss. Here, we remove this approximation, investigate the full two-body point-mass problem with isotropic mass-loss, and illustrate the resulting dynamical evolution. The magnitude and duration of a star's mass-loss combined with a secondary's initial orbital characteristics might provoke ejection, modest eccentricity pumping, or even circularization of the orbit. We conclude that Oort Clouds and wide-separation planets may be dynamically ejected from 1-7 M☉ parent stars during AGB evolution. The vast majority of planetary material that survives a supernova from a 7-20 M☉ progenitor will be dynamically ejected from the system, placing limits on the existence of first-generation pulsar planets. Planets around >20 M☉ black hole progenitors may easily survive or readily be ejected depending on the core collapse and superwind models applied. Material ejected during stellar evolution might contribute significantly to the free-floating planetary population.

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Pages

2104-2123

Publication/Series

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume

417

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
  • Physical Sciences

Keywords

  • Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
  • Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
  • Oort Cloud
  • Physics - Classical Physics
  • planet-star interactions
  • planets and satellites: dynamical evolution and stability
  • stars: AGB and post-AGB
  • stars: evolution
  • supernovae: general

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1365-2966