Effects Of Photoevaporation Research Articles

Suppression of giant planet formation around low-mass stars in clustered environments

Context. Current exoplanet formation studies tend to overlook the birth environment of stars in clustered environments. However, the effects of this environment on the planet formation process are important, especially in the earliest stage. Aims. We investigate the differences in planet populations forming in star-cluster environments through pebble accretion and compare these results with planet formation around isolated stars. We strive to provide potential signatures of the young planetary systems to guide future observations. Methods. We present a new planet population synthesis code designed for clustered environments. This planet formation model is based on pebble accretion and includes migration in the circumstellar disk. The disk’s gas and dust have been evolved via 1D simulations, while considering the effects of photo-evaporation of the nearby stars. Results. Planetary systems in a clustered environment are different than those born in isolation; the environmental effects are important for a wide range of observable parameters and the eventual architecture of the planetary systems. Planetary systems born in a clustered environment lack cold Jupiters, as compared to isolated planetary systems. This effect is more pronounced for low-mass stars (≲0.2 M⊙). On the other hand, planetary systems born in clusters show an excess of cold Neptune around these low-mass stars. Conclusions. In future observations, finding an excess of cold Neptunes and a lack of cold Jupiters could be used to constrain the birth environments of these planetary systems. Exploring the dependence of cold Jupiter’s intrinsic occurrence rate on stellar mass offers insights into the birth environment of their proto-embryos.

Time-dependent, long-term hydrodynamic simulations of the inner protoplanetary disk. III. The influence of photoevaporation

The final stages of a protoplanetary disk are essential for our understanding of the formation and evolution of planets. Photoevaporation is an important mechanism that contributes to the dispersal of an accretion disk and has significant consequences for the disk's lifetime. However, the combined effects of photoevaporation and star-disk interaction have not been investigated in previous studies. A photoevaporative disk evolution model including a detailed formulation of the inner star-disk interaction region will improve the understanding of the final stages of disk evolution. We combined an implicit disk evolution model with a photoevaporative mass-loss profile. By including the innermost disk regions down to 0.01 AU, we could calculate the star-disk interaction, the stellar spin evolution, and the transition from an accreting disk to the propeller regime self-consistently. Starting from an early Class II star-disk system (with an age of 1 Myr), we calculated the long-term evolution of the system until the disk becomes almost completely dissolved. Photoevaporation has a significant effect on disk structure and evolution. The radial extent of the dead zone decreases, and the number of episodic accretion events (outbursts) is reduced by high stellar X-ray luminosities. Reasonable accretion rates ($> 10^ M_ / yr $) in combination with photoevaporative gaps are possible for a dead zone that is still massive enough to develop episodic accretion events. Furthermore, the stellar spin evolution during the Class II evolution is less affected by the star-disk interaction in the case of high X-ray luminosities. Our results suggest that the formation of planets, especially habitable planets, in the dead zone is strongly impaired in the case of strong X-ray luminosities. Additionally, the importance of the star-disk interaction during the Class II phase with respect to the stellar spin evolution is reduced.

Unravelling the evolution of hot Jupiter systems under the effect of tidal and magnetic interactions and mass-loss

ABSTRACT Various interactions affect the population of close-in planets. Among them, the tidal and magnetic interactions drive orbital decay and star-planet angular momentum exchange, leading to stellar spin-up. As a result of the above processes, a planet may initiate the mass transfer to the host star once it encounters the Roche limit. Another mechanism providing substantial mass-loss is associated with the atmospheric escape caused by photoevaporation followed by orbital expansion, which is thought to be important for hot Neptunes and super-Earths. Thus, the fraction of the initial number of hot Jupiters may transform into lower-mass planets through the Roche lobe overflow (RLO) phase and continue secular evolution under the effect of photoevaporation. In this paper, we compile the latest prescriptions for tidal and magnetic migration and mass-loss rates to explore the dynamics of hot Jupiter systems. We study how the implemented interactions shape the orbital architecture of Jovian planets and whether their impact is enough to reproduce the observational sample. Our models suggest that the tidal interaction is able to generate the upper boundary of the hot Jupiter population in the mass–separation diagram. To recreate the sub-Jovian desert, we need to make additional assumptions regarding the RLO phase or the influence of the protoplanetary disc’s inner edge on the initial planetary location. According to our estimates, 12–15 per cent of hot Jupiters around solar-mass stars have been engulfed or become lower-mass planets. 0.20–0.25 per cent of the present-day giant planet population undergoes decay intense enough to be detected with modern facilities.

Evolution of circumstellar discs in young star-forming regions

ABSTRACT The evolution of circumstellar discs is influenced by their surroundings. The relevant processes include external photoevaporation due to nearby stars and dynamical truncations. The impact of these processes on disc populations depends on the star-formation history and on the dynamical evolution of the region. Since star-formation history and the phase-space characteristics of the stars are important for the evolution of the discs, we start simulating the evolution of the star cluster with the results of molecular cloud collapse simulations. In the simulation, we form stars with circumstellar discs, which can be affected by different processes. Our models account for the viscous evolution of the discs, internal and external photoevaporation of gas, external photoevaporation of dust, and dynamical truncations. All these processes are resolved together with the dynamical evolution of the cluster, and the evolution of the stars. An extended period of star formation, lasting for at least 2 Myr, results in some discs being formed late. These late-formed discs have a better chance of survival because the cluster gradually expands with time, and a lower local stellar density reduces the effects of photoevaporation and dynamical truncation. Late formed discs can then be present in regions of high UV radiation, solving the proplyd lifetime problem. We also find a considerable fraction of discs that lose their gas content but remain sufficiently rich in solids to be able to form a rocky planetary system.

The Influence of Age on the Relative Frequency of Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes

Abstract There is growing evidence that the population of close-in planets discovered by the Kepler mission was sculpted by atmospheric loss, though the typical timescale for this evolution is not well-constrained. Among a highly complete sample of planet hosts of varying ages the age-dependence of the relative fraction of super-Earth and sub-Neptune detections can be used to constrain the rate at which some small planets lose their atmospheres. Using the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) sample, we find evidence that the ratio of super-Earth to sub-Neptune detections rises monotonically from 1 to 10 Gyr. Our results are in good agreement with an independent study focused on stars hotter than the Sun, as well as with forward modeling simulations incorporating the effects of photoevaporation and a CKS-like selection function. We find the observed trend persists even after accounting for the effects of completeness or correlations between age and other fundamental parameters.

Dispersal of protoplanetary disks: Effects of photoevaporation with stellar evolution and MHD winds

Dispersal of protoplanetary disks: Effects of photoevaporation with stellar evolution and MHD winds

EUV irradiation of exoplanet atmospheres occurs on Gyr time-scales

ABSTRACT Exoplanet atmospheres are known to be vulnerable to mass-loss through irradiation by stellar X-ray and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission. We investigate how this high-energy irradiation varies with time by combining an empirical relation describing stellar X-ray emission with a second relation describing the ratio of solar X-ray to EUV emission. In contrast to assumptions commonly made when modelling atmospheric escape, we find that the decline in stellar EUV emission is much slower than in X-rays, and that the total EUV irradiation of planetary atmospheres is dominated by emission after the saturated phase of high-energy emission (which lasts around 100 Myr after the formation of the star). The EUV spectrum also becomes much softer during this slow decline. Furthermore, we find that the total combined X-ray and EUV emission of stars occurs mostly after the saturated phase. Our results suggest that models of atmospheric escape that focus on the saturated phase of high-energy emission are oversimplified, and when considering the evolution of planetary atmospheres it is necessary to follow EUV-driven escape on Gyr time-scales. This may make it more difficult to use stellar age to separate the effects of photoevaporation and core-powered mass-loss when considering the origin of the planet radius valley.

Final Masses of Giant Planets. III. Effect of Photoevaporation and a New Planetary Migration Model

Abstract We herein develop a new simple model for giant planet formation that predicts the final mass of a giant planet born in a given disk by adding the disk mass loss due to photoevaporation and a new type II migration formula to our previous model. The proposed model provides some interesting results. First, it gives universal evolution tracks in the diagram of planetary mass and orbital radius, which clarifies how giant planets migrate at growth in the runaway gas accretion stage. Giant planets with a few Jupiter masses or less suffer only a slight radial migration in the runaway gas accretion stage. Second, the final mass of giant planets is approximately given as a function of only three parameters: the initial disk mass at the starting time of runaway gas accretion onto the planet, the mass-loss rate due to photoevaporation, and the starting time. On the other hand, the final planet mass is almost independent of the disk radius, viscosity, and planetary orbital radius. The obtained final planet mass is ≲10% of the initial disk mass. Third, the proposed model successfully explains properties in the mass distribution of giant exoplanets with the mass distribution of observed protoplanetary disks for a reasonable range of the mass-loss rate due to photoevaporation.

The evolution of dust in discs influenced by external photoevaporation

ABSTRACT Protoplanetary discs form and evolve in a wide variety of stellar environments and are accordingly exposed to a wide range of ambient far-ultraviolet (FUV) field strengths. Strong FUV fields are known to drive vigorous gaseous flows from the outer disc. In this paper we conduct the first systematic exploration of the evolution of the solid component of discs subject to external photoevaporation. We find that the main effect of photoevaporation is to reduce the reservoir of dust at large radii and this leads to more efficient subsequent depletion of the disc dust due to radial drift. Efficient radial drift means that photoevaporation causes no significant increase of the dust-to-gas ratio in the disc. We show that the disc lifetime in both dust and gas is strongly dependent on the level of the FUV background and that the relationship between these two lifetimes just depends on the Shakura–Sunyaev α parameter, with the similar lifetimes observed for gas and dust in discs pointing to higher α values (∼10−2). On the other hand, the distribution of observed discs in the plane of disc size versus flux at 850 μm is better reproduced by lower α (∼10−3). We find that photoevaporation does not assist rocky planet formation but need not inhibit mechanisms (such as pebble accretion at the water snow line) which can be effective sufficiently early in the disc’s lifetime (i.e. well within a Myr).

Effects of photoevaporation on protoplanetary disc ‘isochrones’

ABSTRACT Protoplanetary discs are the site of star and planet formation, and their evolution and consequent dispersal deeply affect the formation of planetary systems. In the standard scenario they evolve on time-scales ∼Myr due to the viscous transport of angular momentum. The analytical self-similar solution for their evolution predicts specific disc isochrones in the accretion rate–disc mass plane. However, photoevaporation by radiation emitted by the central star is likely to dominate the gas disc dispersal of the innermost region, introducing another (shorter) time-scale for this process. In this paper, we include the effect of internal (X and EUV) photoevaporation on the disc evolution, finding numerical solutions for a population of protoplanetary discs. Our models naturally reproduce the expected quick dispersal of the inner region of discs when their accretion rates match the rate of photoevaporative mass loss, in line with previous studies. We find that photoevaporation preferentially removes the lightest discs in the sample. The net result is that, counter-intuitively, photoevaporation increases the average disc mass in the sample, by dispersing the lightest discs. At the same time, photoevaporation also reduces the mass accretion rate by cutting the supply of material from the outer to the inner disc. In a purely viscous framework, this would be interpreted as the result of a longer viscous evolution, leading to an overestimate of the disc age. Our results thus show that photoevaporation is a necessary ingredient to include when interpreting observations of large disc samples with measured mass accretion rates and disc masses. Photoevaporation leaves a characteristic imprint on the shape of the isochrone. Accurate data of the accretion rate–disc mass plane in the low disc mass region therefore give clues on the typical photoevaporation rate.

Survival of a planet in short-period Neptunian desert under effect of photoevaporation

Despite the identification of a great number of Jupiter-like and Earth-like planets at close-in orbits, the number of "hot Neptunes" - the planets with 0.6-18 times of Neptune mass and orbital periods less than 3 days - turned out to be very small. The corresponding region in the mass-period distribution was assigned as the "short-period Neptunian desert". The common explanation of this fact is that the gaseous planet with few Neptune masses would not survive in the vicinity of host star due to intensive atmosphere outflow induced by heating from stellar radiation. To check this hypothesis we performed numerical simulations of atmosphere dynamics for a hot Neptune. We adopt the previously developed self-consistent 1D model of hydrogen-helium atmosphere with suprathermal electrons accounted. The mass-loss rates as a function of orbital distances and stellar ages are presented. We conclude that the desert of short-period Neptunes could not be entirely explained by evaporation of planet atmosphere caused by the radiation from a host star. For the less massive Neptune-like planet, the estimated upper limits of the mass loss may be consistent with the photo-evaporation scenario, while the heavier Neptune-like planets could not lose the significant mass through this mechanism. We also found the significant differences between our numerical results and widely used approximate estimates of the mass loss.

The evolution of the protoplanetary disk with mass influx from a molecular cloud core and the photoevaporation winds

We investigate the formation, evolution, and dispersal processes of protoplanetary disks with mass influx from the gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud core and the photoevaporation winds. Due to the initial angular momentum of the molecular cloud core, the gravitational collapse of the molecular cloud core forms a protostar+protoplanetary disk system. We calculate the evolution of the protoplanetary disk from the gravitational collapse of the molecular cloud core to the dispersal stage. In our calculation, we include the mass influx from a molecular cloud core, the irradiation from the central star, the viscosity due to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) and the gravitational instability, and the effect of photoevaporation. We find that the protoplanetary disk has some interesting properties, which are different from the previous studies. Firstly, with particular values of parameters of the molecular cloud core, the gravitational instability does not occur during the whole evolution of the resultant protoplanetary disk. With some other parameters of the molecular cloud core, the gravitational instability occurs all the time of the lifetime of the resultant protoplanetary disk. Secondly, the radial distribution of the α parameter exhibits a nearly ladder-like shape, which is different from the three regions’ shape in previous studies. Thirdly, the value of the surface density is increased significantly (about a factor of 8.0) compared with that in the Minimum Mass Solar Nebula (MMSN) model. We suggest that this increased surface density can provide enough material for the formation of giant planets within the lifetime of the protoplanetary disk, and may provide a routine for reducing the timescale of the formation of giant planets. We also discuss the influence of the photoevaporation winds on the evolution of the protoplanetary disk.

Molecular clouds photoevaporation and FIR line emission

With the aim of improving predictions on far infrared (FIR) line emission from Giant Molecular Clouds (GMC), we study the effects of photoevaporation (PE) produced by external far-ultraviolet (FUV) and ionizing (extreme-ultraviolet, EUV) radiation on GMC structure. We consider three different GMCs with mass in the range $M_{\rm GMC} = 10^{3-6}\,\rm{M_{\odot}}$. Our model includes: (i) an observationally-based inhomogeneous GMC density field, and (ii) its time evolution during the PE process. In the fiducial case ($M_{\rm GMC}\approx10^5 M_{\odot}$), the photoevaporation time ($t_{pe}$) increases from 1 Myr to 30 Myr for gas metallicity $Z=0.05-1\,\rm Z_{\odot}$, respectively. Next, we compute the time-dependent luminosity of key FIR lines tracing the neutral and ionized gas layers of the GMCs, ([CII] at $158\,\rm{\mu m}$, [OIII] at $88\,\rm \mu m$) as a function of $G_0$, and $Z$ until complete photoevaporation at $t_{pe}$. We find that the specific [CII] luminosity is almost independent on the GMC model within the survival time of the cloud. Stronger FUV fluxes produce higher [CII] and [OIII] luminosities, however lasting for progressively shorter times. At $Z=Z_{\odot}$ the [CII] emission is maximized ($L_{\rm CII}\approx 10^4\,\rm{L_{\odot}}$ for the fiducial model) for $t<1\,\rm{Myr}$ and $\log G_0\geq 3$. Noticeably, and consistently with the recent detection by Inoue et al. (2016) of a galaxy at redshift $z\approx 7.2$, for $Z\leq 0.2\,\rm{Z_{\odot}}$ the [OIII] line might outshine [CII] emission by up to $\approx 1000$ times. We conclude that the [OIII] line is a key diagnostic of low metallicity ISM, especially in galaxies with very young stellar populations.

GLOBAL INSTABILITY OF THE EXO-MOON SYSTEM TRIGGERED BY PHOTO-EVAPORATION

ABSTRACT Many exoplanets have been found in orbits close to their host stars and thus they are subject to the effects of photo-evaporation. Previous studies have shown that a large portion of exoplanets detected by the Kepler mission have been significantly eroded by photo-evaporation. In this paper, we numerically study the effects of photo-evaporation on the orbital evolution of a hypothesized moon system around a planet. We find that photo-evaporation is crucial to the stability of the moon system. Photo-evaporation can erode the atmosphere of the planet thus leading to significant mass loss. As the planet loses mass, its Hill radius shrinks and its moons increase their orbital semimajor axes and eccentricities. When some moons approach their critical semimajor axes, global instability of the moon system would be triggered, which usually ends up with two, one or even zero surviving moons. Some lost moons could escape from the moon system to become a new planet orbiting the star or run away further to become a free-floating object in the Galaxy. Given the destructive role of photo-evaporation, we speculate that exomoons are less common for close-in planets (&lt;0.1 au), especially those around M-type stars, because they are more X-ray luminous and thus enhancing photo-evaporation. The lessons we learn in this study may be helpful for the target selection of on-going/future exomoon searching programs.

LIFETIMES AND ACCRETION RATES OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

ABSTRACT Protoplanetary disks originate in the collapse of molecular cloud cores. The formation and evolution of disks are influenced by the properties of molecular cloud cores. In this paper we investigate the dependence of disk lifetimes and accretion rates on cloud core properties. We find that the lifetime increases as the angular velocities and the mass of cloud cores increase and that the lifetime decreases as the core temperature increases. We have calculated the distribution of disk lifetimes and disk fractions with stellar age. Our calculations show that the lifetime is in the range of 1–15 Myr and that the typical lifetime is 1–3 Myr. There are a few disks with lifetimes greater than 10 Myr and &sim; 30 &percnt; ?> of the disks have lifetimes less than 1 Myr. We also fit the disk fraction by an exponential decay curve with characteristic time ∼3.7 Myr. Our results explain the observations of disk lifetimes. We also find that the accretion rate does not change significantly with ω and generally decreases with T cd ?> . At the early evolution of the disks, the M &DiacriticalDot; &ndash; M &ast; ?> relation is about M &DiacriticalDot; &prop; M &ast; 1.2 &minus; 2 ?> . Since the effects of the photoevaporation are weak at this stage, this relation is the consequence of the cloud core properties. At the late evolution of the disks, the M &DiacriticalDot; &ndash; M &ast; ?> relation is about M &DiacriticalDot; &prop; M &ast; 1.2 &minus; 1.7 ?> . For low accretion rates at this stage, the M &DiacriticalDot; &ndash; M &ast; ?> relation results from the effects of X-ray photoevaporation. The calculated M &DiacriticalDot; &ndash; M &ast; ?> relations are consistent with the observations.

SIGNATURES OF PLANETS AND PROTOPLANETS IN THE GALACTIC CENTER: A CLUE TO UNDERSTANDING THE G2 CLOUD?

Several hundred young stars lie in the innermost parsec of our Galaxy. The supermassive black hole (SMBH) might capture planets orbiting these stars and bring them onto nearly radial orbits. The same fate might occur to planetary embryos (PEs), i.e., protoplanets born from gravitational instabilities in protoplanetary disks. In this paper, we investigate the emission properties of rogue planets and PEs in the Galactic center. In particular, we study the effects of photoevaporation caused by the ultraviolet background. Rogue planets can hardly be detected by current or forthcoming facilities, unless they are tidally disrupted and accrete onto the SMBH. In contrast, photoevaporation of PEs (especially if the PE is being tidally stripped) might lead to a recombination rate as high as s?1, corresponding to a Brackett- luminosity erg s?1, very similar to the observed luminosity of the dusty object G2. We critically discuss the possibility that G2 is a rogue PE, and the major uncertainties of this model.

Estimation of the XUV radiation onto close planets and their evaporation

Context: The current distribution of planet mass vs. incident stellar X-ray flux supports the idea that photoevaporation of the atmosphere may take place in close-in planets. Integrated effects have to be accounted for. A proper calculation of the mass loss rate due to photoevaporation requires to estimate the total irradiation from the whole XUV range. Aims: The purpose of this paper is to extend the analysis of the photoevaporation in planetary atmospheres from the accessible X-rays to the mostly unobserved EUV range by using the coronal models of stars to calculate the EUV contribution to the stellar spectra. The mass evolution of planets can be traced assuming that thermal losses dominate the mass loss of their atmospheres. Methods: We determine coronal models for 82 stars with exoplanets that have X-ray observations available. Then a synthetic spectrum is produced for the whole XUV range (~1-912 {\AA}). The determination of the EUV stellar flux, calibrated with real EUV data, allows us to calculate the accumulated effects of the XUV irradiation on the planet atmosphere with time, as well as the mass evolution for planets with known density. Results: We calibrate for the first time a relation of the EUV luminosity with stellar age valid for late-type stars. In a sample of 109 exoplanets, few planets with masses larger than ~1.5 Mj receive high XUV flux, suggesting that intense photoevaporation takes place in a short period of time, as previously found in X-rays. The scenario is also consistent with the observed distribution of planet masses with density. The accumulated effects of photoevaporation over time indicate that HD 209458b may have lost 0.2 Mj since an age of 20 Myr. Conclusions: Coronal radiation produces rapid photoevaporation of the atmospheres of planets close to young late-type stars. More complex models are needed to explain fully the observations.