Shaping Extrasolar Systems with Giant Planets
Channel: Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Bordeaux
Date: 20/01/2022

Laetitia Rodet (Cornell University)

In the last decades, exoplanet surveys have revealed the presence of giant planets (Jupiter-sized or larger) orbiting at least 5 % of Sun-like stars. This percentage will likely increase in the near future, in particular with the coming data releases of the Gaia mission. Due to their mass, giant planets have a significant impact on the dynamics of the entire planetary system. First insights on their architecture show larger eccentricities and inclinations than the smaller planets, and orbital periods ranging from hours (hot Jupiters) to years (cold Jupiters), and even thousands of years.

In this talk, I will present how giant planets shape the architecture of extrasolar systems, in particular the orbits of fellow giant planet companions, inner super Earths, moons and planetesimals. I will compare analytical expectations, N-body simulations, and actual observations, focusing especially on directly imaged-systems. Giant planets can directly perturb their environment through secular interactions, scattering or resonances. Moreover, cold Jupiters are sensitive to the close flybys of neighboring stars. The occasional kicks that those flybys induce can significantly change a giant planet orbit, which will then impact the rest of the planetary system. This phenomenon could be linked to the formation of hot Jupiters, the misalignment of inner super Earths or the asymmetries in debris disks.

video editing Benjamin Benne