On the Estimation of Circumbinary Orbital Properties
Abstract
We describe a fast, approximate method to characterize the orbits of satellites around a central binary in numerical simulations. A goal is to distinguish the free eccentricity—the random motion of a satellite relative to a dynamically cool orbit—from oscillatory modes driven by the central binary's time-varying gravitational potential. We assess the performance of the method using the Kepler-16, Kepler-47, and Pluto-Charon systems. We then apply the method to a simulation of orbital damping in a circumbinary environment, resolving relative speeds between small bodies that are slow enough to promote mergers and growth. These results illustrate how dynamical cooling can set the stage for the formation of Tatooine-like planets around stellar binaries and the small moons around the Pluto-Charon binary planet.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- January 2021
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-3881/abcbfb
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2011.13376
- Bibcode:
- 2021AJ....161...25B
- Keywords:
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- Exoplanet dynamics;
- Exoplanet evolution;
- Pluto;
- Orbital elements;
- Orbital theory;
- N-body simulations;
- Exoplanet formation;
- Satellite formation;
- 490;
- 491;
- 1267;
- 1177;
- 1182;
- 1083;
- 492;
- 1425;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 24 pages with 7 figures and 3 tables, AJ, in press