2006/06/30 by Eric Pfahl, Matthew W. Muterspaugh, Matthew Muterspaugh · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrobiology #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Binary number #Binary star #Context (archaeology) #Exoplanet #Gas giant #Geology #Giant planet #Jovian #Kepler-47 #Physics #Planet #Planetary migration #Planetary system #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/508446
published as Astrophys.J.652:1694-1697,2006 · 4 pages; Accepted by ApJ, minor changes from original
arxiv created 2006/08/15 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Hostile tidal forces may inhibit the formation of Jovian planets in binaries with semimajor axes of ≲50 AU, binaries that might be called "close" in this context. As an alternative to in situ planet formation, a binary can acquire a giant planet when one of its original members is replaced in a dynamical interaction with another star that hosts a planet. Simple scaling relations for the structure and evolution of star clusters, coupled with analytic arguments regarding binary-single and binary-binary scattering, indicate that dynamical processes can deposit Jovian planets in <1% of close binaries. If ongoing and future exoplanet surveys measure a much larger fraction, it may be that giant planets do somehow form frequently in such systems.