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Planet Formation and Dynamical Modeling
Project Investigators: Sean Raymond, Monika Kress, John Scalo, Rory Barnes, Vikki Meadows
Astrobiology Roadmap Objectives:
- Objective 1.1: Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets
- Objective 3.1: Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts
- Objective 6.2: Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth
Project Progress
We have extended models of terrestrial planet formation to new domains such as around low-mass stars and binary stars. We are developing a new model for the origin of carbon on the Earth and other habitable planets, based on studies of meteoritics, protoplanetary disk structure, and planetary accretion. We have also studied the long-term tidal-orbital evolution of habitable zone planets around low-mass stars, and found that in some cases planets may form in the habitable zone but evolve in to hotter orbits because of tidal effects. We have studied the formation of close-in terrestrial planets (e.g., “super-Earths”) and have shown that with high-precision transit and radial velocity information it may be possible to uniquely determine the formation mechanism. We have studied the dynamics of extra-solar planetary systems – in 2007 we were the first to successfully predict the mass and orbit of an exoplanet. We continue to develop new models for the formation and evolution of planets both in our own solar system and around other stars.
Mission Involvement
Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)Raymond and Barnes are involved in a project to test SIM's ability to find planets around other starts. Raymond is involved in generating artificial planetary systems. These systems are then turned into artificial observations by a team led by Wes Traub (JPL). Finally, a third set of teams (including Barnes) attempts to reconstitute the input planetary systems from the artificial observations.KeplerRaymond and Barnes are both involved in modeling the formation, tidal and dynamical evolution of planetary systems around other stars. Some of the ideas that have been developed will be directly tested by Kepler. In particular, a recent paper by Raymond, Barnes & Mandell (2008) shows that, in some cases, a combination of transit measurements and radial velocity information can tell apart different formation models for close-in terrestrial planets.Terrestrial Planet Finder / New Worlds ObserverFormation models such as those generated by Raymond, Kress, Scalo, Meadows and Barnes will be tested and constrained by upcoming missions like TPF or New Worlds Observer.Cross-Team Collaborations
Raymond has collaborated with Nader Haghighipour (U. of Hawaii lead team) on habitable planet formation in binary star systems – their paper came out in 9/2007 in the Astrophysical Journal (Haghighipour & Raymond 2007).
Raymond collaborated with Eric Gaidos (U. Hawaii), Nader Haghighipour (U. Hawaii), Eric Agol (U. Washington), David Latham, and John Rayner (U. Hawaii) on a project dealing with the formation, detection and habitability of close-in terrestrial planets (e.g., “super-Earths”). The collaboration resulted in a review paper in Science (Gaidos et al 2007).
Raymond collaborated with Eric Gaidos, Jonathan Williams and Nick Moskovitz (U. Hawaii) on the origin and implications of Al-26 in planetary systems. A paper has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal (Gaidos et al 2008)
Raymond collaborated with Phil Armitage and Nick Moeckel (U. Colorado) on modeling the eccentricities of extra-solar giant planets from dynamical instabilities during the late phases of the gaseous component of protoplanetary disks. The paper has been submitted for publication to the Astrophysical Journal (Moeckel et al 2008).
Raymond continued his collaboration with Avi Mandell (NASA Goddard) and Steinn Sigurdsson (Penn State) on the subject of the influence of giant planet migration on terrestrial planet formation. The collaboration has resulted in three papers (Raymond et al 2006, Science; Mandell et al 2007, ApJ; Raymond et al 2008, MNRAS) and more are in preparation.
Raymond continued his collaboration with Nate Kaib (U. Washington) on water-loss and giant impacts during terrestrial planet formation. They are preparing a publication on this work.
Raymond continued his collaboration with John Chambers (Carnegie Institution of Washington) on the survival of the Solar System’s terrestrial planets in the context of different models for the evolution of the outer Solar System.
- Untitled
- A Novel Route to New, Simpler, Self-aminoacylating Ribozymes
- Bally project
- Biological potential of Mars
- Carbon Flow Between Organisms in Complex Communities
- DDF: Geomicrobiology of a Unique Ice-Sulfur Spring Ecosystem in the High Arctic
- FU ORIONIS ERUPTIONS
- Functional Genomics of Thioredoxins in Halobacterium sp. NRC-1
- Identifying microbial life at crustal rock-water interfaces
- Microbial diversity of a hypersaline microbial mat
- Origin of multicellularity and complex land-based ecosystem
- Philosophical Problems in Astrobiology; issues on the origin of life,
- Planet Formation and Dynamical Modeling
- Star and Planet Formation
- Sulfur biogeochemistry of the Early Earth
- Understanding the Microbial Ecology of Geologically-based Chemolithoautotrophic Communities
