Exomoons in Systems with a Strong Perturber: Applications to α Cen AB

Quarles, Billy; Eggl, Siegfried; Rosario-Franco, Marialis; Li, Gongjie

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac042a

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…For simplicity, the moon is initiated on a circular orbit around planet f, then, following the results of previous studies estimating stability limits of hierarchical systems (e.g., Rosario-Franco et al 2020;Jagtap et al 2021;Quarles et al 2021), each simulation is run for a duration of up to 10 5 yr. A simulation is halted and marked as "unstable" if either of the following criteria are met:…”

Section: Three-body Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and Detectability of Exomoons Orbiting HIP 41378 f, a Temperate Jovian Planet with an Anomalously Low Apparent Density

Harada,

Dressing,

Alam

et al. 2023

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Moons orbiting exoplanets (“exomoons”) may hold clues about planet formation, migration, and habitability. In this work, we investigate the plausibility of exomoons orbiting the temperate (T eq = 294 K) giant (R = 9.2 R ⊕) planet HIP 41378 f, which has been shown to have a low apparent bulk density of 0.09 g cm−3 and a flat near-infrared transmission spectrum, hinting that it may possess circumplanetary rings. Given this planet’s long orbital period (P ≈ 1.5 yr), it has been suggested that it may also host a large exomoon. Here, we analyze the orbital stability of a hypothetical exomoon with a satellite-to-planet mass ratio of 0.0123 orbiting HIP 41378 f. Combining a new software package, astroQTpy, with REBOUND and EqTide, we conduct a series of N-body and tidal migration simulations, demonstrating that satellites up to this size are largely stable against dynamical escape and collisions. We simulate the expected transit signal from this hypothetical exomoon and show that current transit observations likely cannot constrain the presence of exomoons orbiting HIP 41378 f, though future observations may be capable of detecting exomoons in other systems. Finally, we model the combined transmission spectrum of HIP 41378 f and a hypothetical moon with a low-metallicity atmosphere and show that the total effective spectrum would be contaminated at the ∼10 ppm level. Our work not only demonstrates the feasibility of exomoons orbiting HIP 41378 f but also shows that large exomoons may be a source of uncertainty in future high-precision measurements of exoplanet systems.

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Section: Three-body Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and Detectability of Exomoons Orbiting HIP 41378 f, a Temperate Jovian Planet with an Anomalously Low Apparent Density

Harada,

Dressing,

Alam

et al. 2023

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“…At present, the problem of the orbital stability and fate of multiple moons migrating in conjunction with the planet has not yet been studied in depth, but processes such as those described abo v e could mo v e these moons away from their possible protective resonances and introduce chaos into the system (see e.g. Quarles et al 2021 , and references therein), which may result in collisions and mergers between them. The by-product of such interactions could be the MNRAS 512, 1032-1044 (2022) depletion of these moons, or the survi v al of a few of them (or a single massive moon) which transiently possess surrounding ringlike particle systems after the collision (see case ii in Fig.…”

Section: F O R M At I O N S C E Na R I O S O F C Ro N O M O O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There were recently six spurious claims for exomoon candidates by Fox & Wiegert ( 2021 ), which have been proven incorrect from both an observational ) and a stability perspective (Quarles et al 2021 ). Does this reflect a lack of moons?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cronomoons: origin, dynamics, and light-curve features of ringed exomoons

Sucerquia

Alvarado-Montes

Bayo

et al. 2021

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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In recent years, technical and theoretical work to detect moons and rings around exoplanets has been attempted. The small mass/size ratios between moons and planets means this is very challenging, having only one exoplanetary system where spotting an exomoon might be feasible (i.e. Kepler-1625b i). In this work, we study the dynamical evolution of ringed exomoons, dubbed cronomoons after their similarity with Cronus (Greek for Saturn), and after Chronos (the epitome of time), following the Transit Timing Variations (TTV) and Transit Duration Variation (TDV) that they produce on their host planet. Cronomoons have extended systems of rings that make them appear bigger than they actually are when transiting in front of their host star. We explore different possible scenarios that could lead to the formation of such circumsatellital rings, and through the study of the dynamical/thermodynamic stability and lifespan of their dust and ice ring particles, we found that an isolated cronomoon can survive for time-scales long enough to be detected and followed up. If these objects exist, cronomoons’ rings will exhibit gaps similar to Saturn’s Cassini Division and analogous to the asteroid belt’s Kirkwood gaps, but instead raised due to resonances induced by the host planet. Finally, we analyse the case of Kepler-1625b i under the scope of this work, finding that the controversial giant moon could instead be an Earth-mass cronomoon. From a theoretical perspective, this scenario can contribute to a better interpretation of the underlying phenomenology in current and future observations.

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“…At present, the problem of the orbital stability and fate of multiple moons migrating in conjunction with the planet has not yet been studied in depth, but processes such as those described above could move these moons away from their possible protective resonances and introduce chaos into the system (see e.g. Quarles et al 2021, and references therein), which may result in collisions and mergers between them. The by-product of such interactions could be the depletion of these moons, or the survival of a few of them (or a single massive moon) which transiently possess surrounding ring-like particle systems after the collision (see case ii in Fig.…”

Section: Formation Scenarios Of Cronomoonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…★ E-mail:mario.sucerquia@uv.cl There were recently six spurious claims for exomoon candidates by Fox & Wiegert (2021), which have been proven incorrect from both an observational ) and a stability perspective (Quarles et al 2021). Does this reflect a lack of moons?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cronomoons: origin, dynamics, and light-curve features of ringed exomoons

Sucerquia,

Alvarado-Montes,

Bayo

et al. 2021

Preprint

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In recent years, technical and theoretical work to detect moons and rings around exoplanets has been attempted. The small mass/size ratios between moons and planets means this is very challenging, having only one exoplanetary system where spotting an exomoon might be feasible (i.e. Kepler-1625b i). In this work, we study the dynamical evolution of ringed exomoons, dubbed cronomoons after their similarity with Cronus (Greek for Saturn), and after Chronos (the epitome of time), following the Transit Timing Variations (TTV) and Transit Duration Variation (TDV) that they produce on their host planet. Cronomoons have extended systems of rings that make them appear bigger than they actually are when transiting in front of their host star. We explore different possible scenarios that could lead to the formation of such circumsatellital rings, and through the study of the dynamical/thermodynamic stability and lifespan of their dust and ice ring particles, we found that an isolated cronomoon can survive for time-scales long enough to be detected and followed up. If these objects exist, cronomoons' rings will exhibit gaps similar to Saturn's Cassini Division and analogous to the asteroid belt's Kirkwood gaps, but instead raised due to resonances induced by the host planet. Finally, we analyse the case of Kepler-1625b i under the scope of this work, finding that the controversial giant moon could instead be an Earth-mass cronomoon. From a theoretical perspective, this scenario can contribute to a better interpretation of the underlying phenomenology in current and future observations.

show abstract

Exomoons in Systems with a Strong Perturber: Applications to α Cen AB

Cited by 7 publications

References 126 publications

Stability and Detectability of Exomoons Orbiting HIP 41378 f, a Temperate Jovian Planet with an Anomalously Low Apparent Density

Stability and Detectability of Exomoons Orbiting HIP 41378 f, a Temperate Jovian Planet with an Anomalously Low Apparent Density

Cronomoons: origin, dynamics, and light-curve features of ringed exomoons

Cronomoons: origin, dynamics, and light-curve features of ringed exomoons

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