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Moon Capture Simulation- Binary Planetes (Read 271 times)
frankuitaalst
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Moon Capture Simulation- Binary Planetes
07/05/09 at 01:51:46
 
In the BAUT Forum there's is topic about binary planets , and about  the question if binary planets are possible .
http://www.bautforum.com/space-astronomy-questions-answers/90064-binary-planets. html
Of course this subject demands for a gravity simulator simulation  Smiley
The file in attachment starts with 100   0.01 Jupiter sized planets at 5AU around a central    
solar mass. ( in red ) . To this system were added 100 Earth sized planets at 4.9 AU ( in blue ) .  
All planets are in the ecliptic plane and have initial zero eccentricity , with random mean anomaly .  
So we have two rings of objects .    
One can think of it of being a proto planetary disc .
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« Last Edit: 07/05/09 at 10:42:55 by frankuitaalst »  
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frankuitaalst
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Moon Capture Simulation- Binary Planets
Reply #1 - 07/05/09 at 01:56:50
 
Running the sim gives the following animation over a couple of years ....
Some planets merge , others are ejected , but more interesting is that we have some scattering of the orbits , creating the possibility of frequent encounters ...
( click on the icon to get a full screen view ) .  
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MoonCaptureGlobal5AuAnim.gif
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frankuitaalst
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Moon Capture Simulation- Binary Planets
Reply #2 - 07/05/09 at 02:21:16
 
Lets zoom in to body 59 and center it ( red spot in the middle) .  
 
This body merged before the start of the animation with another 0.01 MJup, but this is not really important .  
Watch however the two Earth sized planets approach from the left .  
As they are approaching Body59 they clearly interact at the end .  
One body gets absorbed , the other one changes its course and ...indeed is captured !!
 
This is the first time I was lucky enough to see a capture in the sims I've made so far  Smiley.  
I think in the above sim there's  another capture with body 78 , but I haven't animated it .  
 
It's interesting to see that the capture is the result of the interaction of 3 bodies ( in fact 4 if the sun is also counted) .  Captures where fewer bodies are involved are almost impossible or even impossible I think .  
 
The above sim was run for some more hundreds of years . The number of bodies decreases due to further merging or expulsion. Fewer active bodies remain , decreasing the chances of having multiple encounters .  
I saw no captures anymore after the initial few years.  
 
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MoonCaptureDetailAnim.gif
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frankuitaalst
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Moon Capture Simulation
Reply #3 - 07/09/09 at 13:25:03
 
I think if there are a lot of bodies sharing the same orbits , capture of bodies may occur frequently .  
I've set up a system of 200 Earth sized bodies . 100 of them at 5AU (the red)  and another 100 at 4.8 AU (the blue).  
The sim herunder is centered at a body which I saw capture some bodies .  
The animation starts when  the central body merges with 3 neighbours , then after a while a first body is captured in an encounter with 2 blue bodies .  
Then another body is captured , which will be ejected after an encounter with another blue body .  
Finally the centered planet looses all of its moons ... and will stay moonless ...
 
 
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CaptureSim.gif
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