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Main Authors: Li, Stephen, Ju, Maggie, Quillen, A. C., Rubinstein, Adam E.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.03533
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author Li, Stephen
Ju, Maggie
Quillen, A. C.
Rubinstein, Adam E.
author_facet Li, Stephen
Ju, Maggie
Quillen, A. C.
Rubinstein, Adam E.
contents Young and forming planetesimals experience impacts from particles present in a protostellar disk. Using crater scaling laws, we integrate ejecta distributions for oblique impacts. For impacts at 10 to 65 m/s, expected for impacts associated with a disk wind, we estimate the erosion rate and torque exerted on the planetesimal. We find that the mechanism for angular momentum drain proposed by Dobrovolskis and Burns (1984) for asteroids could operate in the low velocity regime of a disk wind. Though spin-down associated with impacts can facilitate planetesimal collapse, we find that the process is inefficient. We find that angular momentum drain via impacts operates in the gravitational focusing regime. The angular momentum transfer is most effective when the wind speed is high, the projectile density is high compared to the bulk planetesimal density, and the planetesimal is sufficiently weak that cratering is in the gravity regime. We find that angular momentum drain due to impacts within a pebble cloud may, in those specific conditions, facilitate collapse of single planetesimals.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_03533
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Angular Momentum Drain: Despinning Embedded Planetesimals
Li, Stephen
Ju, Maggie
Quillen, A. C.
Rubinstein, Adam E.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Young and forming planetesimals experience impacts from particles present in a protostellar disk. Using crater scaling laws, we integrate ejecta distributions for oblique impacts. For impacts at 10 to 65 m/s, expected for impacts associated with a disk wind, we estimate the erosion rate and torque exerted on the planetesimal. We find that the mechanism for angular momentum drain proposed by Dobrovolskis and Burns (1984) for asteroids could operate in the low velocity regime of a disk wind. Though spin-down associated with impacts can facilitate planetesimal collapse, we find that the process is inefficient. We find that angular momentum drain via impacts operates in the gravitational focusing regime. The angular momentum transfer is most effective when the wind speed is high, the projectile density is high compared to the bulk planetesimal density, and the planetesimal is sufficiently weak that cratering is in the gravity regime. We find that angular momentum drain due to impacts within a pebble cloud may, in those specific conditions, facilitate collapse of single planetesimals.
title Angular Momentum Drain: Despinning Embedded Planetesimals
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.03533