Capture and Evolution of Planetesimals in Circumjovian Disks

TL;DR

This study models the complex evolution of planetesimals around a Jupiter-like planet in a circumjovian disk, revealing how scattering, ablation, and segregation influence solid distribution and satellite formation potential.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed 3D hydrodynamics simulation of planetesimal dynamics, including ablation and mass loss, in a circumplanetary disk environment, which is novel.

Findings

Planetesimals are scattered across the disk, affecting their distribution.

Ablation at high temperatures significantly reduces solid mass.

Solid gap edges form depending on size and radial location.

Abstract

We study the evolution of planetesimals in evolved gaseous disks, which orbit a solar-mass star and harbor a Jupiter-mass planet at a_p~5AU. The gas dynamics is modeled with a three-dimensional hydrodynamics code that employes nested-grids and achieves a resolution of one Jupiter's radius in the circumplanetary disk. The code models solids as individual particles. Planetesimals are subjected to gravitational forces by the star and the planet, drag force by the gas, disruption via ram pressure, and mass loss through ablation. The mass evolution of solids is calculated self-consistently with their temperature, velocity, and position. We consider icy and icy/rocky bodies of radius 0.1-100km, initially deployed on orbits around the star within a few Hill radii (Rhill) of the planet's orbit. Planetesimals are scattered inward, outward, and toward disk regions of radius r>>a_p. Scattering can relocate significant amounts of solids, provided that regions |r-a_p|~ 3Rhill are replenished with planetesimals. Scattered bodies can be temporarily captured on planetocentric orbits. Ablation consumes nearly all solids at gas temperatures > ~220K. Super-keplerian rotation around and beyond the outer edge of the gas gap can segregate < ~0.1km bodies, producing solid gap edges at size-dependent radial locations. Capture, break-up, and ablation of solids result in a dust-laden circumplanetary disk with low surface densities of km-size planetesimals, implying relatively long timescales for satellite formation. After a giant planet acquires most of its mass, accretion of solids is unlikely to alter significantly its heavy-element content. The luminosity generated by solids' accretion can be of a similar order of magnitude to the contraction luminosity.