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Astronomy Colloquium Series Presents

Dr. Max Moe, NASA Einstein Fellow, The University of Arizona
Thursday, February 21, 2019
3:30-4:20 PM
411 West Hall Map
“The Formation of Close Binaries and Planets”

The formation and orbital migration of close binaries and hot Jupiters remain a mystery. The majority of very close binaries have outer tertiary companions, suggesting Kozai-Lidov oscillations coupled with tidal friction play an important role in their dynamical evolution. However, close pre main-sequence binaries are ubiquitous, indicating most close binaries migrated within a few Myr while there was still dissipative gas in the primordial disk. I will overview a new population synthesis model that incorporates more realistic initial conditions and a novel tidal mechanism to explain the formation of close binaries and hot Jupiters during the pre-main-sequence phase. Although planets may favor metal-rich hosts, recent observations demonstrate the close binary fraction dramatically increases toward lower metallicities. I will discuss five different observational techniques that corroborate this metallicity trend, and will outline a fragmentation model that reproduces the observations. I will conclude by highlighting how close binaries suppress the formation of close (S-type) planets. Close binaries therefore substantially bias planet occurrence rates and the inferred trends with respect to host mass and metallicity.

Please note: Should you require any reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access and opportunity related to this event please contact Stacy Tiburzi at 734-764-3440 or stibu@umich.edu.
Building: West Hall
Website:
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Astronomy, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, Lecture, Physics
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Department of Astronomy, Department of Physics, Michigan Institute for Research in Astrophysics