An Approximation for the Capture Radius of Gaseous Protoplanets

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple approximation for the planetary capture radius that improves accuracy over traditional constant density assumptions, aiding models of heavy-element accretion during giant planet formation.

Contribution

It provides a novel, easy-to-use approximation for the capture radius that avoids complex stellar structure calculations, applicable across various planetesimal sizes and compositions.

Findings

The approximation matches well with detailed models.

Constant density assumptions cause significant errors.

Implementation improves heavy-element accretion modeling.

Abstract

Determining the heavy-element accretion rate of growing giant planets is crucial for understanding their formation and bulk composition. The solid (heavy-element) accretion rate should be carefully modeled during the various stages of giant planet formation and therefore, the planetary capture radius must be determined. In some simulations that model the heavy-element accretion rate, such as in N-body simulations, the presence of the gaseous envelope is either neglected, or treated in an over-simplified manner. In this paper, we present an approximation for the capture radius that does not require the numerical solution of the stellar structure equations. Our approximation for the capture radius works extremely well for various planetesimal sizes and compositions. We show that the commonly assumed constant density assumption for inferring the capture radius leads to a large error in the calculated capture radius and we therefore suggest that our approximation should be implemented in future simulations.