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Title:
Stability of Multi-planet Systems in and around Habitable Zones
Authors:
Kopparapu, Ravi Kumar; Barnes, R.
Affiliation:
AA(CGWP, Pennsylvania State University), AB(Lunar and Planetary lab, University of Arizona)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #346.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.482
Publication Date:
01/2009
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2009AAS...21334605K

Abstract

We study the dynamical stability of a 1 or 2 planet system in the context of Hill & Lagrange stability boundaries. Previous studies have shown that, for a two planet system, these boundaries are almost identical. Given the tendency of planetary systems to appear packed, we may expect undetected planets to lie close to these boundaries. Here, we attempt to identify stable orbits in known one-planet systems, focusing on systems which have stable habitable zones. For example, in the GJ 436 system, a habitable 10 Moplus planet (not in resonance) would be stable if its semi-major axis is greater than 0.07 AU. We also examine if the the Hill stability limits allow for the identification of "unpacked" systems, in which an additional planet could be stable in between two known planets. We compute the proximity to the Hill stability boundary, ββcrit, for two planet systems, then place a hypothetical third planet in between the two planets, and perform N-body simulations to determine Lagrange stability. We find that if ββcrit >/ 1.25, a third planet will not destabilize the system. Moreover, our results show that this value is insensitive to the mass of the hypothetical planet. These analyses clarify the stability boundaries in exoplanetary systems, demonstrate that costly numerical simulations are unnecessary to map stability boundaries, and identify systems which may contain habitable planets.
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