Survival of Exomoons Around Exoplanets

Author:

Dobos V.,Charnoz S.,Pál A.ORCID,Roque-Bernard A.,Szabó Gy. M.

Abstract

Abstract Despite numerous attempts, no exomoon has firmly been confirmed to date. New missions like CHEOPS aim to characterize previously detected exoplanets and potentially discover exomoons. In order to optimize search strategies, we need to determine those planets which are the most likely to host moons. We investigate the tidal evolution of hypothetical moon orbits in systems consisting of a star, one planet, and one test moon. We study a few specific cases with ten billion years integration time where the evolution of moon orbits follows one of these three scenarios: (1) “locking,” in which the moon has a stable orbit on a long timescale (≳109 yr); (2) “escape scenario” where the moon leaves the planet’s gravitational domain; and (3) “disruption scenario,” in which the moon migrates inwards until it reaches the Roche lobe and becomes disrupted by strong tidal forces. Applying the model to real cases from an exoplanet catalog, we study the long-term stability of moon orbits around known exoplanets. We calculate the survival rate which is the fraction of the investigated cases when the moon survived around the planet for the full integration time (which is the age of the star, or if not known, then the age of the Sun). The most important factor determining the long-term survival of an exomoon is the orbital period of the planet. For the majority of the close-in planets (<10 days orbital periods) there is no stable orbit for moons. Between 10 and 300 days we find a transition in survival rate from about zero to 70%. Our results give a possible explanation for the lack of successful exomoon discoveries for close-in planets. Tidal instability causes moons to escape or being tidally disrupted around close-in planets which are mostly favored by current detection techniques.

Publisher

IOP Publishing

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

Cited by 30 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3