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How common are Earth-Moon planetary systems?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2011

Sebastian Elser ,
Joachim Stadel ,
Ben Moore  and
Ryuji Morishima
Sebastian Elser
Affiliation:
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Joachim Stadel
Affiliation:
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Ben Moore
Affiliation:
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Ryuji Morishima
Affiliation:
LASP, University of Colorado, Colorado 80303-7814, USA email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The Earth's comparatively massive moon, formed via a giant impact on the proto-Earth, has played an important role in the development of life on our planet. Here we study how frequently Earth-Moon planetary systems occur. We derive limits on the collision parameters that may guarantee the formation of a circumplanetary disk after a protoplanet collision that could form a satellite. Based on a large set of simulations, we observe potential moon forming impacts and conclude that giant impacts with the required energy and orbital parameters for producing a binary planetary system occur frequently with more than one in ten terrestrial planets hosting a massive moon.

Keywords

planets and satellites: formation
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S276: The Astrophysics of Planetary Systems: Formation, Structure, and Dynamical Evolution , October 2010 , pp. 414 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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