Formation of single-moon systems around gas giants

Abstract

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the formation process of satellite systems, and relatively large moons are thought to be born in circumplanetary disks. Making a single-moon system is known to be more difficult than multiple-moon or moonless systems. We aim to find a way to form a system with a single large moon, such as Titan around Saturn. We examine the orbital migration of moons, which change their direction and speed depending on the properties of circumplanetary disks. We modeled dissipating circumplanetary disks with taking the effect of temperature structures into account and calculated the orbital evolution of Titan-mass satellites in the final evolution stage of various circumplanetary disks. We also performed N-body simulations of systems that initially had multiple satellites to see whether single-moon systems remained at the end. The radial slope of the disk-temperature structure characterized by the dust opacity produces a patch of orbits in which the Titan-mass moons cease inward migration and even migrate outward in a certain range of the disk viscosity. The patch assists moons initially located in the outer orbits to remain in the disk, while those in the inner orbits fall onto the planet. We demonstrate for the first time that systems can form that have only one large moon around giant planet. Our N-body simulations suggest satellite formation was not efficient in the outer radii of circumplanetary disks.

arXiv commentPublished in A&A letter

References in corpus (28)

• Using FU Orionis Outbursts to Constrain Self-Regulated Protostellar Disk Models
• A torque formula for non-isothermal Type I planetary migration - II. Effects of diffusion
• Episodic accretion in magnetically layered protoplanetary discs
• Three-dimensional simulations of multiple protoplanets embedded in a protostellar disc
• Radial migration of gap-opening planets in protoplanetary disks. I. The case of a single planet
• Distribution of Accreting Gas and Angular Momentum onto Circumplanetary Disks
• Formation of Regular Satellites from Ancient Massive Rings in the Solar System
• Origin of the Different Architectures of the Jovian and Saturnian Satellite Systems
• Orbital evolution of eccentric planets in radiative discs
• Formation of a disc gap induced by a planet: Effect of the deviation from Keplerian disc rotation
• N-body Simulations of Satellite Formation around Giant Planets: Origin of Orbital Configuration of the Galilean Moons
• The Importance of Disk Structure in Stalling Type I Migration
• Range of outward migration and influence of the disc's mass on the migration of giant planet cores
• A Gas-poor Planetesimal Capture Model for the Formation of Giant Planet Satellite Systems
• On the Viability of the Magnetorotational Instability in Circumplanetary Disks
• The Galilean Satellites Formed Slowly from Pebbles
• Accretion in giant planet circumplanetary disks
• A Fast and Accurate Calculation Scheme for Ionization Degrees in Protoplanetary and Circumplanetary Disks with Charged Dust Grains
• Saturn's formation and early evolution at the origin of Jupiter's massive moons
• Magnetic Coupling in the Disks Around Young Gas Giant Planets
• Accretion of Solid Materials onto Circumplanetary Disks from Protoplanetary Disks
• A semi-analytical model for exploring Galilean satellites formation from a massive disk
• Formation of Multiple-Satellite Systems From Low-Mass Circumplanetary Particle Disks
• Formation of terrestrial planets in disks evolving via disk winds and implications for the origin of the solar system's terrestrial planets
• Satellitesimal Formation via Collisional Dust Growth in Steady Circumplanetary Disks
• Orbital Evolution of Moons in Weakly Accreting Circumplanetary Disks
• Distribution of captured planetesimals in circumplanetary gas disks and implications for accretion of regular satellites
• Photophoresis in the circumjovian disk and its impact on the orbital configuration of the Galilean satellites

Cited by in corpus (3)

• An N-body population synthesis framework for the formation of moons around Jupiter-like planets
• The ominous fate of exomoons around hot Jupiters in the high-eccentricity migration scenario
• The Exomoon Corridor for Multiple Moon Systems