E-resources
-
Veras, Dimitri; Fuller, Jim
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 03/2020, Volume: 492, Issue: 4Journal Article
ABSTRACT Robust evidence of an ice giant planet shedding its atmosphere around the white dwarf WD J0914+1914 represents a milestone in exoplanetary science, allowing us to finally supplement our knowledge of white dwarf metal pollution, debris discs, and minor planets with the presence of a major planet. Here, we discuss the possible dynamical origins of this planet, WD J0914+1914 b. The very young cooling age of the host white dwarf (13 Myr) combined with the currently estimated planet–star separation of about 0.07 au imposes particularly intriguing and restrictive coupled constraints on its current orbit and its tidal dissipation characteristics. The planet must have been scattered from a distance of at least a few au to its current location, requiring the current or former presence of at least one more major planet in the system in the absence of a hidden binary companion. We show that WD J0914+1914 b could not have subsequently shrunk its orbit through chaotic f-mode tidal excitation (characteristic of such highly eccentric orbits) unless the planet was or is highly inflated and possibly had partially thermally self-disrupted from mode-based energy release. We also demonstrate that if the planet is currently assumed to reside on a near-circular orbit at 0.07 au, then non-chaotic equilibrium tides impose unrealistic values for the planet’s tidal quality factor. We conclude that WD J0914+1914 b either (i) actually resides interior to 0.07 au, (ii) resembles a disrupted ‘Super-Puff’ whose remains reside on a circular orbit, or (iii) resembles a larger or denser ice giant on a currently eccentric orbit. Distinguishing these three possibilities strongly motivates follow-up observations.
Shelf entry
Permalink
- URL:
Impact factor
Access to the JCR database is permitted only to users from Slovenia. Your current IP address is not on the list of IP addresses with access permission, and authentication with the relevant AAI accout is required.
Year | Impact factor | Edition | Category | Classification | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP |
Select the library membership card:
If the library membership card is not in the list,
add a new one.
DRS, in which the journal is indexed
Database name | Field | Year |
---|
Links to authors' personal bibliographies | Links to information on researchers in the SICRIS system |
---|
Source: Personal bibliographies
and: SICRIS
The material is available in full text. If you wish to order the material anyway, click the Continue button.