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Directed by Christopher J. Culter Based on the paper by Chiang and Chiang, Fischer, & Thommes What happens when two Jupiter-mass planets migrate apart from each other? As shown by the above papers, divergent planetary migration can excite large orbital eccentricities. In this clip, two Jupiter-mass planets initially occupy nearly circular orbits at 1.0 and 1.5 AU. We model divergent planetary migration by applying a frictional drag force to the inner planet but not the outer planet. As the orbit of the inner planet slowly shrinks, the two planets cross a series of mean-motion resonances. The first and strongest resonance to be crossed is the 2:1 resonance. Each crossing kicks the planets onto more eccentric orbits. The magnitudes of the eccentricities can be read either from the plot at the bottom of the film, or from the "eccentricity vectors" attached to the orbits. Each eccentricity vector is rooted at the periastron of a planet's orbit, and its length is proportional to the orbital eccentricity. After crossing numerous resonances, the planets occupy eccentric orbits that are apsidally anti-aligned. The final configuration is reminiscent of the extrasolar planetary system HD 12661. This particular clip simulates about 18000 yr of orbital evolution; dragging the evolution out over longer timescales does not change the result. |
INSTRUCTIONS: The .MOV version is the preferred, high resolution version. It runs under Apple's free Quicktime Player. Playback
within Microsoft Powerpoint is possible via the following steps: Download
the .MOV file onto your local disk. In Powerpoint,
go to Slide Show --> Action Buttons --> Movie-Button-Icon (click the last button featuring a movie projector). Click the location on your slide
where you wish to place the button; the button icon should appear on the slide,
together with a pop-up window for "Action Settings." Under the entry
"Hyperlink," fill in "Other File." Choose the .MOV file. During the slide show, clicking on the Movie-Button-Icon will launch Quicktime within Powerpoint. Close the Quicktime window to return to the slide show. The .AVI version is a lower resolution version of the .MOV. It is grainier and darker than the (preferred) .MOV, but can be run more easily within Microsoft Powerpoint. We encourage you to try the .MOV first before resorting to the .AVI. For the truly adventurous, a .MOV version with an audio track can be downloaded here. E-mail the composer for the underlying music theory. |