Accretion of primordial H-He atmospheres in mini-Neptunes: the importance of envelope enrichment

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Autori principali: Lous, Marit Mol, Mordasini, Christoph, Helled, Ravit
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Lous, Marit Mol
Mordasini, Christoph
Helled, Ravit
author_facet Lous, Marit Mol
Mordasini, Christoph
Helled, Ravit
contents Out of the more than 5,000 detected exoplanets a considerable number belongs to a category called 'mini-Neptunes'. Interior models of these planets suggest that they have some primordial, H-He dominated atmosphere. As this type of planet does not occur in the solar system, understanding their formation is a key challenge in planet formation theory. Unfortunately, quantifying the H-He, based on their observed mass and radius, is impossible due to the degeneracy of interior models. We explore the effects that different assumptions on planet formation have on the nebular gas accretion rate, particularly by exploring the way in which solid material interacts with the envelope. This allows us to estimate the range of possible post-formation primordial envelopes. Thereby we demonstrate the importance of envelope enrichment on the initial primordial envelope which can be used in evolution models. We apply formation models that include different solid accretion rate prescriptions. Our assumption is that mini-Neptunes form beyond the ice-line and migrate inward after formation, thus we form planets in-situ at 3 and 5 au. We consider that the envelope can be enriched by the accreted solids in the form of water. We study how different assumptions and parameters influence the ratio between the planet's total mass and the fraction of primordial gas. The primordial envelope fractions for small- and intermediate-mass planets (total mass below 15 M$_{\oplus}$) can range from 0.1% to 50%. Envelope enrichment can lead to higher primordial mass fractions. We find that the solid accretion rate timescale has the largest influence on the primordial envelope size. Primordial gas accretion rates can span many orders of magnitude. Planet formation models need to use a self-consistent gas accretion prescription.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_10544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Accretion of primordial H-He atmospheres in mini-Neptunes: the importance of envelope enrichment
Lous, Marit Mol
Mordasini, Christoph
Helled, Ravit
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Out of the more than 5,000 detected exoplanets a considerable number belongs to a category called 'mini-Neptunes'. Interior models of these planets suggest that they have some primordial, H-He dominated atmosphere. As this type of planet does not occur in the solar system, understanding their formation is a key challenge in planet formation theory. Unfortunately, quantifying the H-He, based on their observed mass and radius, is impossible due to the degeneracy of interior models. We explore the effects that different assumptions on planet formation have on the nebular gas accretion rate, particularly by exploring the way in which solid material interacts with the envelope. This allows us to estimate the range of possible post-formation primordial envelopes. Thereby we demonstrate the importance of envelope enrichment on the initial primordial envelope which can be used in evolution models. We apply formation models that include different solid accretion rate prescriptions. Our assumption is that mini-Neptunes form beyond the ice-line and migrate inward after formation, thus we form planets in-situ at 3 and 5 au. We consider that the envelope can be enriched by the accreted solids in the form of water. We study how different assumptions and parameters influence the ratio between the planet's total mass and the fraction of primordial gas. The primordial envelope fractions for small- and intermediate-mass planets (total mass below 15 M$_{\oplus}$) can range from 0.1% to 50%. Envelope enrichment can lead to higher primordial mass fractions. We find that the solid accretion rate timescale has the largest influence on the primordial envelope size. Primordial gas accretion rates can span many orders of magnitude. Planet formation models need to use a self-consistent gas accretion prescription.
title Accretion of primordial H-He atmospheres in mini-Neptunes: the importance of envelope enrichment
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.10544