Connecting the formation of stars and planets. II: coupling the angular momentum of stars with the angular momentum of planets

TL;DR

This study investigates the relationship between stellar and planetary angular momentum, revealing that more massive and faster-rotating stars tend to host more massive planets with higher orbital angular momentum, suggesting linked formation processes.

Contribution

It provides new empirical evidence connecting stellar properties with planetary formation and angular momentum transfer, distinguishing between high-mass and low-mass exoplanet hosts.

Findings

Stars with high-mass exoplanets are more massive and rotate faster.

High-mass exoplanets have higher orbital angular momentum.

Stars hosting high-mass exoplanets have lost more angular momentum through migration.

Abstract

A sample of 46 stars, host of exoplanets, is used to search for a connection between their formation process and the formation of the planets rotating around them. Separating our sample in two, stars hosting high-mass exoplanets (HMEs) and low-mass exoplanets (LMEs), we found the former to be more massive and to rotate faster than the latter. We also found the HMEs to have higher orbital angular momentum than the LMEs and to have lost more angular momentum through migration. These results are consistent with the view that the more massive the star and higher its rotation, the more massive was its protoplanetarys disk and rotation, and the more efficient the extraction of angular momentum from the planets.