Dynamical mass and multiplicity constraints on co-orbital bodies around stars

Abstract

Objects transiting near or within the disruption radius of both main sequence (e.g. KOI 1843) and white dwarf (WD 1145+017) stars are now known. Upon fragmentation or disintegration, these planets or asteroids may produce co-orbital configurations of nearly equal-mass objects. However, as evidenced by the co-orbital objects detected by transit photometry in the WD 1145+017 system, these bodies are largely unconstrained in size, mass, and total number (multiplicity). Motivated by potential future similar discoveries, we perform N-body simulations to demonstrate if and how debris masses and multiplicity may be bounded due to second-to-minute deviations and the resulting accumulated phase shifts in the osculating orbital period amongst multiple co-orbital equal point masses. We establish robust lower and upper mass bounds as a function of orbital period deviation, but find the constraints on multiplicity to be weak. We also quantify the fuzzy instability boundary, and show that mutual collisions occur in less than 5%, 10% and 20% of our simulations for masses of 10^{21}, 10^{22} and 10^{23} kg. Our results may provide useful initial rough constraints on other stellar systems with multiple co-orbital bodies.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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Cited by in corpus (15)

• Explaining the variability of WD 1145+017 with simulations of asteroid tidal disruption
• The Fate of Exomoons in White Dwarf Planetary Systems
• Exoplanet recycling in massive white-dwarf debris discs
• Magnetism, X-rays, and Accretion Rates in WD 1145+017 and other Polluted White Dwarf Systems
• Mass and eccentricity constraints on the planetary debris orbiting the white dwarf WD 1145+017
• Fast spectrophotometry of WD 1145+017
• The lifetimes of planetary debris discs around white dwarfs
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• Necroplanetology: Simulating the Tidal Disruption of Differentiated Planetary Material Orbiting WD 1145+017
• Linking the formation and fate of exo-Kuiper belts within solar system analogues
• Transiting Disintegrating Planetary Debris around WD 1145+017
• Relating binary-star planetary systems to central configurations
• Constellations of co-orbital planets: horseshoe dynamics, long-term stability, transit timing variations, and potential as SETI beacons
• Disruption of exo-asteroids around white dwarfs and the release of dust particles in debris rings in co-orbital motion
• Special cases : moons, rings, comets, trojans