Episodic planetesimal disruptions triggered by dissipation of gas disk

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Shuai, Kang, Zhou, Li-Yong, Hui, Hejiu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866916046173110272
author Shuai, Kang
Zhou, Li-Yong
Hui, Hejiu
author_facet Shuai, Kang
Zhou, Li-Yong
Hui, Hejiu
contents Catastrophic disruptions of planetesimals occur in high-velocity collisions. Radioisotope dating of planetesimal disruption events recorded in meteorites confirms frequent catastrophic collisions in the first 10 Myr of the Solar System, reflecting a violent environment of the time. However, the nebula gas can damp the eccentricity of planetesimals and suppress the frequency of planetesimal collisions. Strong dynamical mechanisms that excited the protoplanetary disk are required. Here we show that the sweeping secular resonances of Jupiter and Saturn induced by the nebular gas dissipation, together with the mean motion resonances of Jupiter, can trigger a large number of catastrophic collisions, which occur episodically when the secular resonances are at 2-3 astronomical units and continue thereafter. After the gas dissipation completes, catastrophic collisions decrease in frequency, with scattering by planetary embryos becoming the major driving force of the collisions. Our results suggest that the violent environment excited by secular and mean motion resonances can be ubiquitous in protoplanetary disks during nebula dissipation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_21493
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Episodic planetesimal disruptions triggered by dissipation of gas disk
Shuai, Kang
Zhou, Li-Yong
Hui, Hejiu
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Catastrophic disruptions of planetesimals occur in high-velocity collisions. Radioisotope dating of planetesimal disruption events recorded in meteorites confirms frequent catastrophic collisions in the first 10 Myr of the Solar System, reflecting a violent environment of the time. However, the nebula gas can damp the eccentricity of planetesimals and suppress the frequency of planetesimal collisions. Strong dynamical mechanisms that excited the protoplanetary disk are required. Here we show that the sweeping secular resonances of Jupiter and Saturn induced by the nebular gas dissipation, together with the mean motion resonances of Jupiter, can trigger a large number of catastrophic collisions, which occur episodically when the secular resonances are at 2-3 astronomical units and continue thereafter. After the gas dissipation completes, catastrophic collisions decrease in frequency, with scattering by planetary embryos becoming the major driving force of the collisions. Our results suggest that the violent environment excited by secular and mean motion resonances can be ubiquitous in protoplanetary disks during nebula dissipation.
title Episodic planetesimal disruptions triggered by dissipation of gas disk
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.21493