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A. Morbidelli

Publications and source records attributed to A. Morbidelli.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The meteorite flux of the last 2 Myr recorded in the Atacama desert

The evolution of the meteorite flux to the Earth can be studied by determining the terrestrial ages of meteorite collected in hot deserts. We have measured the terrestrial ages of 54 stony meteorites from the El Médano area, in the Atacama Desert, using the cosmogenic nuclide chlorine 36. With an average age of 710 ka, this collection is the oldest collection of non fossil meteorites at the Earth's surface. This allows both determining the average meteorite flux intensity over the last 2 Myr (222 meteorites larger than 10 g per km2 per Myr) and discussing its possible compositional variability over the Quaternary period. A change in the flux composition, with more abundant H chondrites, occurred between 0.5 and 1 Ma, possibly due to the direct delivery to Earth of a meteoroid swarm from the asteroid belt.

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Why do protoplanetary disks appear not massive enough to form the known exoplanet population?

When and how planets form in protoplanetary disks is still a topic of discussion. Exoplanet detection surveys and protoplanetary disk surveys are now providing results that allow us to have new insights. We collect the masses of confirmed exoplanets and compare their dependence with stellar mass with the same dependence for protoplanetary disk masses measured in ~1-3 Myr old star-forming regions. The latter are recalculated by us using the new estimates of their distances derived from Gaia DR2 parallaxes. We note that single and multiple exoplanetary systems form two different populations, probably pointing to a different formation mechanism for massive giant planets around very low mass stars. While expecting that the mass in exoplanetary systems is much lower than the measured disk masses, we instead find that exoplanetary systems masses are comparable or higher than the most massive disks. This same result is found also by converting the measured planet masses into heavy-element content (core masses for the giant planets and full masses for the super-Earth systems) and by comparing this value with the disk dust masses. Unless disk dust masses are heavily underestimated, this is a big conundrum. An extremely efficient recycling of dust particles in the disk cannot solve this conundrum. This implies that either the cores of planets have formed very rapidly (<0.1-1 Myr) and large amount of gas is expelled on the same timescales from the disk, or that disks are continuously replenished of fresh planet-forming material from the environment. These hypotheses can be tested by measuring disk masses in even younger targets and by better understanding if and how the disks are replenished by their surroundings.

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Toward a new paradigm for Type II migration

Context. Giant planets open gaps in their protoplanetary and subsequently suffer so-called type II migration. Schematically, planets are thought to be tightly locked within their surrounding disks, and forced to follow the viscous advection of gas onto the central star. This fundamental principle however has recently been questioned, as migrating planets were shown to decouple from the gas' radial drift. Aims. In this framework, we question whether the traditionally used linear scaling of migration rate of a giant planet with the disk's viscosity still holds. Additionally, we assess the role of orbit-crossing material as part of the decoupling mechanism. Methods. We have performed 2D (r, θ) numerical simulations of point-mass planets embedded in locally isothermal α-disks in steady-state accretion, with various values of α. Arbitrary planetary accretion rates were used as a means to diminish or nullify orbit-crossing flows. Results. We confirm that the migration rate of a gap-opening planet is indeed proportional to the disk's viscosity, but is not equal to the gas drift speed in the unperturbed disk. We show that the role of gap-crossing flows is in fact negligible. Conclusions. From these observations, we propose a new paradigm for type II migration : a giant planet feels a torque from the disk that promotes its migration, while the gap profile relative to the planet is restored on a viscous timescale, thus limiting the planet migration rate to be proportional to the disk's viscosity. Hence, in disks with low viscosity in the planet region, type II migration should still be very slow. Key words. protoplanetary disks; planet-disk interactions; planets and satellites: formation

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The timeline of the Lunar bombardment - revisited

The timeline of the lunar bombardment in the first Gy of the Solar System remains unclear. Some basin-forming impacts occurred 3.9-3.7Gy ago. Many other basins formed before, but their exact ages are not precisely known. There are two possible interpretations of the data: in the cataclysm scenario there was a surge in the impact rate approximately 3.9Gy ago, while in the accretion tail scenario the lunar bombardment declined since the era of planet formation and the latest basins formed in its tail-end. Here, we revisit the work of Morbidelli et al.(2012) that examined which scenario could be compatible with both the lunar crater record in the 3-4Gy period and the abundance of highly siderophile elements (HSE) in the lunar mantle. We use updated numerical simulations of the fluxes of impactors. Under the traditional assumption that the HSEs track the total amount of material accreted by the Moon since its formation, we conclude that only the cataclysm scenario can explain the data. The cataclysm should have started ~3.95Gy ago. However we show that HSEs could have been sequestered from the lunar mantle due to iron sulfide exsolution during magma ocean crystallization, followed by mantle overturn. Based on the hypothesis that the lunar magma ocean crystallized about 100-150My after Moon formation, and therefore that HSEs accumulated in the lunar mantle only after this time, we show that the bombardment in the 3-4Gy period can be explained in the accretion tail scenario. This hypothesis would also explain why the Moon appears so depleted in HSEs relative to the Earth. We also extend our analysis of the cataclysm and accretion tail scenarios to the case of Mars. The accretion tail scenario requires a global resurfacing event on Mars ~4.4Gy ago, possibly associated with the formation of the Borealis basin, and it is consistent with the HSE budget of the planet.

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Origin and Evolution of Short-Period Comets

Comets are icy objects that orbitally evolve from the trans-Neptunian region (the Kuiper belt and beyond) into the inner Solar System, where they are heated by solar radiation and become active due to sublimation of water ice. Here we perform end-to-end simulations in which cometary reservoirs are formed in the early Solar System and evolved over 4.5 Gyr. The gravitational effects of Planet 9 (P9), hypothesized to circle the Sun on a wide orbit, are included in some of our simulations. Different models are considered for comets to be active, including a simple assumption that comets remain active for Np(q) perihelion passages with perihelion distance q<2.5 au. The orbital distribution and number of active comets produced in our model is compared to observations. The orbital distribution of ecliptic comets (ECs) is well reproduced in models with Np(2.5)=500 and without P9. With P9, the inclination distribution of model ECs is wider than the observed one. We find that the known Halley-type comets (HTCs) have a nearly isotropic inclination distribution (with only a slight preference for prograde orbits). In our model, the HTCs appear to be an extension of the population of returning Oort-cloud comets (OCCs) to shorter orbital periods. The inclination distribution of model HTCs becomes broader with increasing Np, but the existing observational data are not good enough to constrain Np from orbital fits. Np(2.5)>1000 is required to obtain a steady-state population of large active HTCs that is consistent with observations. To fit the ratio of the returning-to-new OCCs, by contrast, our model implies that Np(2.5)<10, possibly because the detected long-period comets are smaller and much easier to disrupt than observed HTCs.

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How primordial is the structure of comet 67P/C-G? Combined collisional and dynamical models suggest a late formation

There is an active debate about whether the properties of comets as observed today are primordial or, alternatively, if they are a result of collisional evolution or other processes. We investigate the effects of collisions on a comet with a structure like 67P/C-G. We develop scaling laws for the critical specific impact energies required for a significant shape alteration. These are then used in simulations of the combined dynamical and collisional evolution of comets in order to study the survival probability of a primordially formed object with a shape like 67P/C-G. The effects of impacts on comet 67P/C-G are studied using a SPH shock physics code. The resulting critical specific impact energy defines a minimal projectile size which is used to compute the number of shape-changing collisions in a set of dynamical simulations. These simulations follow the dispersion of the trans-Neptunian disk during the giant planet instability, the formation of a scattered disk, and produce 87 objects that penetrate into the inner solar system with orbits consistent with the observed JFC population. The collisional evolution before the giant planet instability is not considered here. Hence, our study is conservative in its estimation of the number of collisions. We find that in any scenario considered here, comet 67P/C-G would have experienced a significant number of shape-changing collisions, if it formed primordially. This is also the case for generic bi-lobe shapes. Our study also shows that impact heating is very localized and that collisionally processed bodies can still have a high porosity. Our study indicates that the observed bi-lobe structure of comet 67P/C-G may not be primordial, but might have originated in a rather recent event, possibly within the last 1 Gy. This may be the case for any kilometer-sized two-component cometary nuclei.

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Circumplanetary disk or circumplanetary envelope?

We present three-dimensional simulations with nested meshes of the dynamics of the gas around a Jupiter mass planet with the JUPITER and FARGOCA codes. We implemented a radiative transfer module into the JUPITER code to account for realistic heating and cooling of the gas. We focus on the circumplanetary gas flow, determining its characteristics at very high resolution ($80\%$ of Jupiter's diameter). In our nominal simulation where the temperature evolves freely by the radiative module and reaches 13000 K at the planet, a circumplanetary envelope was formed filling the entire Roche-lobe. Because of our equation of state is simplified and probably overestimates the temperature, we also performed simulations with limited maximal temperatures in the planet region (1000 K, 1500 K, and 2000 K). In these fixed temperature cases circumplanetary disks (CPDs) were formed. This suggests that the capability to form a circumplanetary disk is not simply linked to the mass of the planet and its ability to open a gap. Instead, the gas temperature at the planet's location, which depends on its accretion history, plays also fundamental role. The CPDs in the simulations are hot and cooling very slowly, they have very steep temperature and density profiles, and are strongly sub-Keplerian. Moreover, the CPDs are fed by a strong vertical influx, which shocks on the CPD surfaces creating a hot and luminous shock-front. In contrast, the pressure supported circumplanetary envelope is characterized by internal convection and almost stalled rotation.

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Fossilized condensation lines in the Solar System protoplanetary disk

The terrestrial planets and the asteroids dominant in the inner asteroid belt are water poor. However, in the protoplanetary disk the temperature should have decreased below water condensation level well before the disk was photoevaporated. Thus, the global water depletion of the inner Solar System is puzling. We show that, even if the inner disk becomes cold, there cannot be direct condensation of water. This is because the snowline moves towards the Sun more slowly than the gas itself. The appearance of ice in a range of heliocentric distances swept by the snowline can only be due to the radial drift of icy particles from the outer disk. However, if a sufficiently massive planet is present, the radial drift of particles is interrupted, because the disk acquires a superKeplerian rotation just outside of the planetary orbit. From this result, we propose that the precursor of Jupiter achieved about 20 Earth masses when the snowline was still around 3 AU. This effectively fossilized the snowline at that location. Although cooling, the disk inside of the Jovian orbit remained ice-depleted because the flow of icy particles from the outer system was intercepted by the planet. This scenario predicts that planetary systems without giant planets should be much more rich in water in their inner regions than our system. We also show that the inner edge of the planetesimal disk at 0.7AU, required in terrestrial planet formation models to explain the small mass of Mercury and the absence of planets inside of its orbit, could be due to the silicate condensation line, fossilized at the end of the phase of streaming instability that generated the planetesimal seeds. Thus, when the disk cooled, silicate particles started to drift inwards of 0.7AU without being sublimated, but they could not be accreted by any pre-existing planetesimals.

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Outwards migration for planets in stellar irradiated 3D discs

For the very first time we present 3D simulations of planets embedded in stellar irradiated discs. It is well known that thermal effects could reverse the direction of planetary migration from inwards to outwards, potentially saving planets in the inner, optically thick parts of the protoplanetary disc. When considering stellar irradiation in addition to viscous friction as a source of heating, the outer disc changes from a shadowed to a flared structure. Using a suited analytical formula it has been shown that in the flared part of the disc the migration is inwards; planets can migrate outwards only in shadowed regions of the disc, { because the radial gradient of entropy is stronger there}. In order to confirm this result numerically, we have computed the total torque acting on planets held on fixed orbits embedded in stellar irradiated 3D discs using the hydrodynamical code FARGOCA. We find qualitatively good agreement between the total torque obtained with numerical simulations and the one predicted by the analytical formula. For large masses (>20 Earth masses) we find quantitative agreement, and we obtain outwards migration regions for planets up to 60 Earth masses in the early stages of accretional discs. We find nevertheless that the agreement with the analytic formula is quite fortuitous because the formula underestimates the size of the horseshoe region; this error is compensated by imperfect estimates of other terms, most likely the cooling rate and saturation.

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The great dichotomy of the Solar System: small terrestrial embryos and massive giant planet cores

The basic structure of the solar system is set by the presence of low-mass terrestrial planets in its inner part and giant planets in its outer part. This is the result of the formation of a system of multiple embryos with approximately the mass of Mars in the inner disk and of a few multi-Earth-mass cores in the outer disk, within the lifetime of the gaseous component of the protoplanetary disk. What was the origin of this dichotomy in the mass distribution of embryos/cores? We show in this paper that the classic processes of runaway and oligarchic growth from a disk of planetesimals cannot explain this dichotomy, even if the original surface density of solids increased at the snowline. Instead, the accretion of drifting pebbles by embryos and cores can explain the dichotomy, provided that some assumptions hold true. We propose that the mass-flow of pebbles is two-times lower and the characteristic size of the pebbles is approximately ten times smaller within the snowline than beyond the snowline (respectively at heliocentric distance $r r_{ice}$, where $r_{ice}$ is the snowline heliocentric distance), due to ice sublimation and the splitting of icy pebbles into a collection of chondrule-size silicate grains. In this case, objects of original sub-lunar mass would grow at drastically different rates in the two regions of the disk. Within the snowline these bodies would reach approximately the mass of Mars while beyond the snowline they would grow to $\sim 20$ Earth masses. The results may change quantitatively with changes to the assumed parameters, but the establishment of a clear dichotomy in the mass distribution of protoplanets appears robust, provided that there is enough turbulence in the disk to prevent the sedimentation of the silicate grains into a very thin layer.

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Migration of Earth-size planets in 3D radiative discs

In this paper, we address the migration of small mass planets in 3D radiative disks. Indeed, migration of small planets is known to be too fast inwards in locally isothermal conditions. However, thermal effects could reverse its direction, potentially saving planets in the inner, optically thick parts of the protoplanetary disc. This effect has been seen for masses larger than 5 Earth masses, but the minimum mass for this to happen has never been probed numerically, although it is of crucial importance for planet formation scenarios. We have extended the hydro-dynamical code FARGO to 3D, with thermal diffusion. With this code, we perform simulations of embedded planets down to 2 Earth masses. For a set of discs parameters for which outward migration has been shown in the range of $[5, 35]$ Earth masses, we find that the transition to inward migration occurs for masses in the range $[3, 5]$ Earth masses. The transition appears to be due to an unexpected phenomenon: the formation of an asymmetric cold and dense finger of gas driven by circulation and libration streamlines. We recover this phenomenon in 2D simulations where we control the cooling effects of the gas through a simple modeling of the energy equation.

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Meridional circulation of gas into gaps opened by giant planets in three-dimensional low-viscosity disks

We examine the gas circulation near a gap opened by a giant planet in a protoplanetary disk. We show with high resolution 3D simulations that the gas flows into the gap at high altitude over the mid-plane, at a rate dependent on viscosity. We explain this observation with a simple conceptual model. From this model we derive an estimate of the amount of gas flowing into a gap opened by a planet with Hill radius comparable to the scale-height of a layered disk (i. e. a disk with viscous upper layer and inviscid midplane). Our estimate agrees with modern MRI simulations(Gressel et al., 2013). We conclude that gap opening in a layered disk can not slow down significantly the runaway gas accretion of Saturn to Jupiter-mass planets.

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Accretion of Jupiter-mass Planets in the Limit of Vanishing Viscosity

In the core-accretion model the nominal runaway gas-accretion phase brings most planets to multiple Jupiter masses. However, known giant planets are predominantly Jupiter-mass bodies. Obtaining longer timescales for gas accretion may require using realistic equations of states, or accounting for the dynamics of the circumplanetary disk (CPD) in low-viscosity regime, or both. Here we explore the second way using global, three-dimensional isothermal hydrodynamical simulations with 8 levels of nested grids around the planet. In our simulations the vertical inflow from the circumstellar disk (CSD) to the CPD determines the shape of the CPD and its accretion rate. Even without prescribed viscosity Jupiter's mass-doubling time is $\sim 10^4$ years, assuming the planet at 5.2 AU and a Minimum Mass Solar Nebula. However, we show that this high accretion rate is due to resolution-dependent numerical viscosity. Furthermore, we consider the scenario of a layered CSD, viscous only in its surface layer, and an inviscid CPD. We identify two planet-accretion mechanisms that are independent of the viscosity in the CPD: (i) the polar inflow -- defined as a part of the vertical inflow with a centrifugal radius smaller than 2 Jupiter-radii and (ii) the torque exerted by the star on the CPD. In the limit of zero effective viscosity, these two mechanisms would produce an accretion rate 40 times smaller than in the simulation.

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Origin of the peculiar eccentricity distribution of the inner cold Kuiper belt

Dawson and Murray-Clay (2012) pointed out that the inner part of the cold population in the Kuiper belt (that with semi major axis a<43.5 AU) has orbital eccentricities significantly smaller than the limit imposed by stability constraints. Here, we confirm their result by looking at the orbital distribution and stability properties in proper element space. We show that the observed distribution could have been produced by the slow sweeping of the 4/7 mean motion resonance with Neptune that accompanied the end of Neptune's migration process. The orbital distribution of the hot Kuiper belt is not significantly affected in this process, for the reasons discussed in the main text. Therefore, the peculiar eccentricity distribution of the inner cold population can not be unequivocally interpreted as evidence that the cold population formed in-situ and was only moderately excited in eccentricity; it can simply be the signature of Neptune's radial motion, starting from a moderately eccentric orbit. We discuss how this agrees with a scenario of giant planet evolution following a dynamical instability and, possibly, with the radial transport of the cold population.

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DUst Around NEarby Stars. The survey observational results

Debris discs are a consequence of the planet formation process and constitute the fingerprints of planetesimal systems. Their solar system's counterparts are the asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. The DUNES survey aims at detecting extra-solar analogues to the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt around solar-type stars, putting in this way the solar system into context. The survey allows us to address some questions related to the prevalence and properties of planetesimal systems. We used {\it Herschel}/PACS to observe a sample of nearby FGK stars. Data at 100 and 160 $μ$m were obtained, complemented in some cases with observations at 70 $μ$m, and at 250, 350 and 500 $μ$m using SPIRE. The observing strategy was to integrate as deep as possible at 100 $μ$m to detect the stellar photosphere. Debris discs have been detected at a fractional luminosity level down to several times that of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. The incidence rate of discs around the DUNES stars is increased from a rate of $\sim$ 12.1% $\pm$ 5% before \emph{Herschel} to $\sim$ 20.2% $\pm$ 2%. A significant fraction ($\sim$ 52%) of the discs are resolved, which represents an enormous step ahead from the previously known resolved discs. Some stars are associated with faint far-IR excesses attributed to a new class of cold discs. Although it cannot be excluded that these excesses are produced by coincidental alignment of background galaxies, statistical arguments suggest that at least some of them are true debris discs. Some discs display peculiar SEDs with spectral indexes in the 70-160$μ$m range steeper than the Rayleigh-Jeans one. An analysis of the debris disc parameters suggests that a decrease might exist of the mean black body radius from the F-type to the K-type stars. In addition, a weak trend is suggested for a correlation of disc sizes and an anticorrelation of disc temperatures with the stellar age.

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Oort Cloud and Scattered Disc formation during a late dynamical instability in the Solar System

One of the outstanding problems of the dynamical evolution of the outer solar system concerns the observed population ratio between the Oort Cloud (OC) and the Scattered Disc (SD): observations suggest that this ratio lies between 100 and 1000 but simulations that produce these two reservoirs simultaneously consistently yield a value of the order of 10. Here we stress that the populations in the OC and SD are inferred from the observed fluxes of new Long Period Comets (LPCs) and Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), brighter than some reference total magnitude. However, the population ratio estimated in the simulations of formation of the SD and OC refers to objects bigger than a given size. There are multiple indications that LPCs are intrinsically brighter than JFCs, i.e. an LPC is smaller than a JFC with the same total absolute magnitude. When taking this into account we revise the SD/JFC population ratio from our simulations relative to Duncan and Levison (1997), and then deduce from the observations that the size-limited population ratio between the OC and the SD is 44 (-34)(+54). From simulations we obtain 12 +- 1 but the agreement cannot be rejected by the null hypothesis.

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Constraining the cometary flux through the asteroid belt during the late heavy bombardment

In the Nice model, the late heavy bombardment (LHB) is related to an orbital instability of giant planets which causes a fast dynamical dispersion of a transneptunian cometary disk. We study effects produced by these hypothetical cometary projectiles on main-belt asteroids. In particular, we want to check whether the observed collisional families provide a lower or an upper limit for the cometary flux during the LHB. We present an updated list of observed asteroid families as identified in the space of synthetic proper elements by the hierarchical clustering method, colour data, albedo data and dynamical considerations and we estimate their physical parameters. We selected 12 families which may be related to the LHB according to their dynamical ages. We then used collisional models and N-body orbital simulations to gain insight into the long-term dynamical evolution of synthetic LHB families over 4 Gyr. We account for the mutual collisions, the physical disruptions of comets, the Yarkovsky/YORP drift, chaotic diffusion, or possible perturbations by the giant-planet migration. Assuming a "standard" size-frequency distribution of primordial comets, we predict the number of families with parent-body sizes D_PB >= 200 km which seems consistent with observations. However, more than 100 asteroid families with D_PB >= 100 km should be created at the same time which are not observed. This discrepancy can be nevertheless explained by the following processes: i) asteroid families are efficiently destroyed by comminution (via collisional cascade), ii) disruptions of comets below some critical perihelion distance (q <~ 1.5 AU) are common. Given the freedom in the cometary-disruption law, we cannot provide stringent limits on the cometary flux, but we can conclude that the observed distribution of asteroid families does not contradict with a cometary LHB.

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Dynamical capture in the Pluto-Charon system

This paper explores the possibility that the progenitors of the small satellites of Pluto got captured in the Pluto-Charon system from the massive heliocentric planetesimal disk in which Pluto was originally embedded into. We find that, if the dynamical excitation of the disk is small, temporary capture in the Pluto-Charon system can occur with non-negligible probability, due to the dynamical perturbations exerted by the binary nature of the Pluto-Charon pair. However, the captured objects remain on very elliptic orbits and the typical capture time is only 100 years. In order to explain the origin of the small satellites of Pluto, we conjecture that some of these objects got disrupted during their Pluto-bound phase by a collision with a planetesimal of the disk. This could have generated a debris disk, which damped under internal collisional evolution, until turning itself into an accretional disk that could form small satellites on circular orbits, co-planar with Charon. Unfortunately, we find that objects large enough to carry a sufficient amount of mass to generate the small satellites of Pluto have collisional lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the capture time. Thus, this scenario cannot explain the origin of the small satellites of Pluto, which remains elusive.

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