Is our Sun a Singleton?
Date
2008
Authors
Malmberg, D
Davies, M B
Chambers, J E
De Angeli, F
Church, R P
Mackey, Alasdair
Wilkinson, Mark, I.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
Most stars are formed in a cluster or association, where the number density of stars can be high. This means that a large fraction of initially-single stars will undergo close encounters with other stars and/or exchange into binaries. We describe how such close encounters and exchange encounters can affect the properties of a planetary system around a single star. We define a singleton as a single star which has never suffered close encounters with other stars or spent time within a binary system. It may be that planetary systems similar to our own solar system can only survive around singletons. Close encounters or the presence of a stellar companion will perturb the planetary system, often leaving planets on tighter and more eccentric orbits. Thus planetary systems which initially resembled our own solar system may later more closely resemble some of the observed exoplanet systems.
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Keywords
Keywords: Binaries: general; Open clusters and associations: general; Planetary systems: general
Citation
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Source
Dynamical Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems
Type
Conference paper
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Restricted until
2037-12-31
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