CAPTURE OF PLANETESIMALS BY GAS DRAG FROM CIRCUMPLANETARY DISKS

Abstract

Growing giant planets have circumplanetary disks around them in the late stage of their formation if their mass is sufficiently large. We examine capture of relatively large planetesimals that are decoupled from the gas inflow, due to gas drag from a circumplanetary disk of a growing giant planet. Assuming that the structure of the circumplanetary disk is axisymmetric, and solving the three-body problem including gas drag, we perform analytic and numerical calculations for capture of planetesimals. When planetesimal random velocity is small, planetesimals approaching in the retrograde direction are more easily captured, owing to their larger velocity relative to the gas. Planetesimals with large orbital inclinations interact with the disk for a short period of time and show lower capture rates. The effect of ablation on capture rates seems insignificant, although mass loss due to ablation would be significant in the case of high random velocity. We also examine the effect of non-uniform radial distribution of planetesimals in the protoplanetary disk due to gap opening by the planet. When the random velocity of planetesimals is small, the planetesimal capture rate decreases rapidly as the half width of the gap in the planetesimal disk increases from two planetary Hill radii to three planetary Hill radii; planetesimals with low random velocities cannot approach the planet in the case of a sufficiently wide gap. Our results show that the radial distribution and random velocity of planetesimals in the protoplanetary disk are essentially important for the understanding of capture of planetesimals by circumplanetary disks.