Gennaro D'Angelo | Los Alamos National Laboratory (original) (raw)

Papers by Gennaro D'Angelo

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2021

Observations indicate that large, dust-laden protoplanetary discs are common. Some features, like... more Observations indicate that large, dust-laden protoplanetary discs are common. Some features, like gaps, rings and spirals, suggest they may host young planets, which can excite the orbits of nearby leftover planetesimals. Energetic collisions among these bodies can lead to the production of second-generation dust. Grains produced by collisions may have a dynamical behaviour different from that of first-generation, primordial dust out of which planetesimals and planets formed. We aim to study these differences for the HD 163296 system and determine whether dynamical signatures in the mixture of the two dust populations can help separate their contributions. We use three-dimensional (3-D) hydrodynamic models to describe the gaseous disc with three, Saturn- to Jupiter-mass, embedded planets. Dust grains, of sizes 1 μm–1 mm, are treated as Lagrangean particles with resolved thermodynamics and mass loss. Initial disc and planet configurations are derived from observation-based work, whic...

Transit data from the Kepler mission indicate that over 10% of solar-type stars may host planets ... more Transit data from the Kepler mission indicate that over 10% of solar-type stars may host planets with radii between 2 and 4 R⊕ and orbital periods shorter than 50 days. Radial velocity data show that nearly 20% of solar-type stars may harbor planets with masses smaller than 10 M⊕ and periods less than 50 days... [See Conference Program at the URL above]

ESO ASTROPHYSICS SYMPOSIA, 2002

ABSTRACT

ESO Astrophysics Symposia, 1998

ABSTRACT A pair of giant planets that tidally interact with a gaseous disk may undergo convergent... more ABSTRACT A pair of giant planets that tidally interact with a gaseous disk may undergo convergent orbital migration and become locked into a mean motion resonance (MMR). If the planet masses are similar to those of Jupiter and Saturn, typical after-formation conditions in protoplanetary disks lead to capture in the 2:1 MMR. Larger gas densities may cause capture in the 3:2 MMR instead. Here we present the results of hydrodynamical models of the evolution of a pair of planets, initially locked in the 2:1 or 3:2 MMR, as they interact with each other and the disk. We focus on the issue of ongoing gas accretion, the importance of which depends on the local disk mass. The high density required for capture in the 3:2 MMR causes a rapid change of the masses and mass ratio. Ensuing planet-planet interactions raises both orbital eccentricities and leads to scattering episodes and to the ejection of one of the planets from the system. Conditions compatible with 2:1 MMR locking can also lead to a more or less substantial growth of the planet masses, depending on the disk density. However, for planets orbiting in the 1 AU region, the resonant configuration appears stable up to masses of about 5 Jupiter's masses. Support from NASA Outer Planets Research Program and NASA Origins of Solar Systems Program is gratefully acknowledged.

ABSTRACT We present calculations of the early stages of the formation of Jupiter via core nucleat... more ABSTRACT We present calculations of the early stages of the formation of Jupiter via core nucleated accretion and gas capture. The core begins as a seed body of about 350 kilometers in radius and orbits in a swarm of planetesimals whose initial radii range from 15 meters to 100 kilometers. We follow the evolution of the swarm by accounting for growth and fragmentation, viscous and gravitational stirring, and for drag-induced migration and velocity damping. Gas capture by the core substantially enhances the cross-section of the planet for accretion of small planetesimals. The dust opacity within the atmosphere surrounding the planetary core is computed self-consistently, accounting for coagulation and sedimentation of dust particles released in the envelope as passing planetesimals are ablated. The calculation is carried out at an orbital semi-major axis of 5.2 AU and an initial solids' surface density of 10 grams per square centimeter at that distance. The results give a core mass of 7 Earth masses and an envelope mass of ~ 0.3 Earth mass after 500,000 years, at which point the envelope growth rate surpasses that of the core. The same calculation without the envelope gives a core mass of only 4 Earth masses.

ABSTRACT The early stages of the formation of Jupiter are modeled via core nucleated accretion an... more ABSTRACT The early stages of the formation of Jupiter are modeled via core nucleated accretion and gas capture. The core is initially a seed body with a radius of 350 kilometers, i.e., 1e-4 Earth masses (Me), and orbits in a disk of planetesimals whose initial size distribution ranges from ~10 meters to 100 kilometers. The size distribution of solids evolves through growth and fragmentation of planetesimals, whose orbits are affected by viscous and gravitational stirring, velocity damping, and drag-assisted migration. The seed body has an orbital semi-major axis of 5.2 AU and the initial surface density of solids at that distance is 10 grams per square centimeters. The mass growth of the core is initially fast, reaching 1 Me in about 7e4 years, but the core does not grow larger than about 4 Me in ~1 Myr if the accretion of solids is determined by the geometrical cross-section of the core. The formation of a gaseous envelope via gas capture by the core substantially enhances the size-dependent cross-section of the planet for accretion of planetesimals. The calculation of the envelope structure includes a self-consistent treatment for dust opacity, which takes into account coagulation and sedimentation of dust grains released in the envelope as passing planetesimals are ablated. The envelope-enhanced accretion rate of solids results in a core mass of about 7 Me after about 0.5 Myr, when the envelope mass is approximately 0.3 Me, at which point the accretion rate of gas surpasses that of solids. Support from NASA Outer Planets Research Program is gratefully acknowledged.

We present calculations of the early stages of the formation of Jupiter via core nucleated accret... more We present calculations of the early stages of the formation of Jupiter via core nucleated accretion and gas capture. The core begins as a seed body of about 350 kilometers in radius and orbits in a swarm of planetesimals whose initial radii range from 15 meters to 50 kilometers. The evolution of the swarm accounts for growth and fragmentation, viscous and gravitational stirring, and for drag-assisted migration and velocity damping. During this evolution, less than 9% of the mass is in planetesimals smaller than 1 kilometer in radius;

The Astrophysical Journal, 2013

We perform global three-dimensional (3D) radiation-hydrodynamics calculations of the envelopes su... more We perform global three-dimensional (3D) radiation-hydrodynamics calculations of the envelopes surrounding young planetary cores of 5, 10, and 15 Earth masses, located in a protoplanetary disk at 5 and 10 AU from a solar-mass star. We apply a nested-grid technique to resolve the thermodynamics of the disk at the orbital-radius length scale and that of the envelope at the core-radius length scale. The gas is modeled as a solar mixture of molecular and atomic hydrogen, helium, and their ions. The equation of state accounts for both gas and radiation, and gas energy includes contributions from rotational and vibrational states of molecular hydrogen and from ionization of atomic species. Dust opacities are computed from first principles, applying the full Mie theory. One-dimensional (1D) calculations of planet formation are used to supplement the 3D calculations by providing energy deposition rates in the envelope due to solids accretion. We compare 1D and 3D envelopes and find that masses and gas accretion rates agree within factors of 2, and so do envelope temperatures. The trajectories of passive tracers are used to define the size of 3D envelopes, resulting in radii much smaller than the Hill radius and smaller than the Bondi radius. The moments of inertia and angular momentum of the envelopes are determined and the rotation rates are derived from the rigid-body approximation, resulting in slow bulk rotation. We find that the polar flattening is 0.05. The dynamics of the accretion flow is examined by tracking the motion of tracers that move into the envelope. The anisotropy of this flow is characterized in terms of both its origin and impact site at the envelope surface. Gas merges with the envelope preferentially at mid-to high latitudes.

American Geophysical Union, 2013

A pair of giant planets interacting with a gaseous disk may be subject to convergent orbital migr... more A pair of giant planets interacting with a gaseous disk may be subject to convergent orbital migration and become locked into a mean motion resonance. If the orbits are close enough, the tidal gaps produced by the planets in the disk may overlap. This represents a necessary condition to activate the outward migration of the pair. However, a number of other conditions must also be realized in order for this mechanism to operate.
We have studied how disk properties, such as turbulence viscosity, temperature, surface density gradient, mass, and age, may affect the outcome of the outward migration process. We have also investigated the implications on this mechanism of the planets' gas accretion.
If the pair resembles Jupiter and Saturn, the 3:2 orbital resonance may drive them outward until they reach stalling radii for migration, which are within ~10 AU of the star for disks representative of the early proto-solar nebula. However, planet post-formation conditions in the disk indicate that such planets become typically locked in the 1:2 orbital resonance, which does not lead to outward migration. Planet growth via gas accretion tends to alter the planets' mass-ratio and/or the disk accretion rate toward the star, reducing or inhibiting outward migration.
Support from NASA Outer Planets Research Program and NASA Origins of Solar Systems Program is gratefully acknowledged.

Astrophysical Journal, 2013

Using detailed numerical simulations, we study the formation of bodies near the deuterium-burning... more Using detailed numerical simulations, we study the formation of bodies near the deuterium-burning limit according to the core-nucleated giant planet accretion scenario. The objects, with heavy-element cores in the range 5-30 M ⊕, are assumed to accrete gas up to final masses of 10-15 Jupiter masses (M Jup). After the formation process, which lasts 1-5 Myr and which ends with a "cold-start," low-entropy configuration, the bodies evolve at constant mass up to an age of several Gyr. Deuterium burning via proton capture is included in the calculation, and we determined the mass, M 50, above which more than 50% of the initial deuterium is burned. This often-quoted borderline between giant planets and brown dwarfs is found to depend only slightly on parameters, such as core mass, stellar mass, formation location, solid surface density in the protoplanetary disk, disk viscosity, and dust opacity. The values for M 50 fall in the range 11.6-13.6 M Jup, in agreement with previous determinations that do not take the formation process into account. For a given opacity law during the formation process, objects with higher core masses form more quickly. The result is higher entropy in the envelope at the completion of accretion, yielding lower values of M 50. For masses above M 50, during the deuterium-burning phase, objects expand and increase in luminosity by one to three orders of magnitude. Evolutionary tracks in the luminosity versus time diagram are compared with the observed position of the companion to Beta Pictoris.

American Geophysical Union, 2012