Search

Comets, asteroids, and other small bodies are thought to be remnants of the original planetesimal population of the Solar System. As such, their physical, chemical, and isotopic properties hold crucial details on how and where they formed and how they evolved. Yet, placing precise constraints on the formation region of these bodies has been challenging. Data from spacecraft missions have a particularly high potential of addressing the question of the origin of the visited bodies. ESA's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko returned data from the comet for two years on its journey around the Sun. This extensive data set has revolutionised our view on comets and still holds unsolved problems. We use the Rosetta/ROSINA (Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) measurement of the volatile/ice composition and the Rosetta/COSIMA (COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer) measurements of the refractory composition of comet 67P. These measurements are combined using a Monte Carlo method. The refractory-to-ice ratio is a free parameter that is constrained a posteriori. Using only the composition, we constrain the refractory-to-ice ratio to $0.5<\chi<1.7$, and derive the bulk elemental abundances for 67P of H, C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, S, K, Ar, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Kr, and Xe. We find the noble gas xenon in near solar elemental abundance in comet 67P. Krypton is slightly depleted, while argon is heavily depleted. Comet 67P is enriched in all three noble gases by up to 2.5 orders of magnitude compared to CI chondrites. We show this is consistent with a formation region between 25 and 35 au in a protoplanetary disk region with temperatures between 30 and 40 K and with the trapping of dust for a long time in rings of the protoplanetary disk., Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Science

A group of newly observed extreme trans-Neptunian objects exhibit unexpected orbital confinement, characterized by the alignment of orbital angular momentum vectors and apsidal lines. It is proposed that an undiscovered giant planet, named Planet-9, exists in the solar system's outer regions and causes this clustering. Initial studies suggested Planet-9 could have a mass of 15 Earth masses. However, such a massive planet strongly interacts with scattered disk objects (SDOs; 50 < a < 1000 au) and influences the orbits of short-period comets, resulting in orbital inclinations inconsistent with observations. This study models the formation and long-term evolution of trans-Neptunian object populations and the Oort cloud during the solar system's dynamical instability, using revised parameters for Planet-9. Simulations assume Planet-9 has a mass of 7.5 Earth masses, an inclination of ~20 degrees, a semi-major axis of ~600 au, and an eccentricity of ~0.3. Results suggest a less massive Planet-9 aligns with observed trans-Neptunian object inclinations and the number of ecliptic comets (D > 10 km). Distant Kuiper belt objects with 40 < q < 100 au and 200 < a < 500 au, particularly with significant inclinations, are more likely to align apsidally with Planet-9, with an anti-aligned-to-aligned ratio of 0.5-0.7. Lower inclination objects (<20 degrees) exhibit significant apsidal anti-alignment, with an anti-aligned-to-aligned ratio of 2-4. These findings offer a new observational direction to refine the search for Planet-9., Comment: Accepted in Icarus

The Hf-W isotopic system is the reference chronometer for determining the chronology of Earth's accretion and differentiation. However, its results depend strongly on uncertain parameters, including the extent of metal-silicate equilibration and the siderophility of tungsten. Here we show that a multistage core-formation model based on N-body accretion simulations, element mass balance and metal-silicate partitioning, largely eliminates these uncertainties. We modified the original model of Rubie et al. (2015) by including (1) smoothed particle hydrodynamics estimates of the depth of melting caused by giant impacts and (2) the isotopic evolution of 182W. We applied two metal-silicate fractionation mechanisms: one when the metal delivered by the cores of large impactors equilibrates with only a small fraction of the impact-induced magma pond and the other when metal delivered by small impactors emulsifies in global magma oceans before undergoing progressive segregation. The latter is crucial for fitting the W abundance and 182W anomaly of Earth's mantle. In addition, we show, for the first time, that the duration of magma ocean solidification has a major effect on Earth's tungsten isotope anomaly. We re-evaluate the six Grand Tack N-body simulations of Rubie et al. (2015). Only one reproduces epsilon182W=1.9+/-0.1 of Earth's mantle, otherwise accretion is either too fast or too slow. Depending on the characteristics of the giant impacts, results predict that the Moon formed either 143-183 Myr or 53-62 Myr after the start of the solar system. Thus, independent evaluations of the Moon's age provide an additional constraint on the validity of accretion simulations., Comment: In press in EPSL

The dominant accretion process leading to the formation of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System is a subject of intense scientific debate. Two radically different scenarios have been proposed. The classic scenario starts from a disk of planetesimals which, by mutual collisions, produce a set of Moon to Mars-mass planetary embryos. After the removal of gas from the disk, the embryos experience mutual giant impacts which, together with the accretion of additional planetesimals, lead to the formation of the terrestrial planets on a timescale of tens of millions of years. In the alternative, pebble accretion scenario, the terrestrial planets grow by accreting sunward-drifting mm-cm sized particles from the outer disk. The planets all form within the lifetime of the disk, with the sole exception of Earth, which undergoes a single post-disk giant impact with Theia (a fifth protoplanet formed by pebble accretion itself) to form the Moon. To distinguish between these two scenarios, we revisit all available constraints: compositional (in terms of nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies and chemical composition), dynamical and chronological. We find that the pebble accretion scenario is unable to match these constraints in a self-consistent manner, unlike the classic scenario., Comment: In press as a Frontier paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters

The nucleosynthetic isotope signatures of meteorites and the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) indicate that Earth consists of a mixture of "carbonaceous" (CC) and "non-carbonaceous" (NC) materials. We show that the fration of CC material recorded in the isotopic composition of the BSE varies for different elements, and depends on the element's tendency to partition into metal and its volatility. The observed behaviour indicates that the majority of material accreted to the Earth was NC-dominated, but that CC-dominated material enriched in moderately-volatile elements by a factor of ~10 was delivered during the last ~2-10% of Earth's acccretion. The late delivery of CC material to Earth contrasts with dynamical evidence for the early implantation of CC objects into the inner solar system during the growth and migration of the giant planets. This, together with the NC-dominated nature of both Earth's late veneer and bulk Mars, suggests that material scattered inwards had the bulk of its mass concentrated in a few, large CC embryos rather than in smaller planetesimals. We propose that Earth accreted a few of these CC embryos while Mars did not, and that at least one of the CC embryos impacted Earth relatively late (when accretion was 90-90% complete). This scenario is consistent with the subsequent Moon-formign impact of a large NC body, as long as this impact did not re-homogenize the entire Earth's mantle.

We present a plausible and coherent view of the evolution of the protosolar disk that is consistent with the cosmochemical constraints and compatible with observations of other protoplanetary disks and sophisticated numerical simulations. The evidence that high-temperature condensates, CAIs and AOAs, formed near the protosun before being transported to the outer disk can be explained by either an early phase of vigorous radial spreading of the disk, or fast transport of these condensates from the vicinity of the protosun towards large disk radii via the protostellar outflow. The assumption that the material accreted towards the end of the infall phase was isotopically distinct allows us to explain the observed dichotomy in nucleosynthetic isotopic anomalies of meteorites and leads to intriguing predictions on the isotopic composition of refractory elements in comets. When the infall of material waned, the disk started to evolve as an accretion disk. Initially, dust drifted inwards, shrinking the radius of the dust component to ~ 45 au, probably about 1/2 of the width of the gas component. Then structures must have emerged, producing a series of pressure maxima in the disk which trapped the dust on My timescales. This allowed planetesimals to form at radically distinct times without changing significantly of isotopic properties. There was no late accretion of material onto the disk via streamers. The disk disappeared in ~5 Myr, as indicated by paleomagnetic data in meteorites. In conclusion, the evolution of the protosolar disk seems to have been quite typical in terms of size, lifetime, and dust behavior, suggesting that the peculiarities of the Solar system with respect to extrasolar planetary system probably originate from the chaotic nature of planet formation and not at the level of the parental disk., Comment: In press in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Giant planets grow and acquire their gas envelope during the disk phase. At the time of the discovery of giant planets in their host disk, it is important to understand the interplay between the host disk and the envelope and circum-planetary disk properties of the planet. Our aim is to investigate the dynamical and physical structure of the gas in the vicinity of a Jupiter-mass planet and study how protoplanetary disk propertiesy, determine the planetary system as well as the accretion rate inside the planet's Hill sphere.We ran global 3D simulations with the grid-based code fargOCA, using a fully radiative equation of state and a dust-to-gas ratio of 0.01. We explored three models. The nominal one features a disk with surface density, Sigma, corresponding to the MMSN at the planet's location, characterised by an alpha viscosity value of 0.004. The second model has a surface density ten times smaller than the nominal one and the same viscosity. In the third model, we also reduced the viscosity value by a factor of 10. During gap formation gas is heated by compression and cools according to opacity, density, and temperature values. In the analysis of our disks, we find that the gas flowing into the Hill sphere is approximately scaled as the product Sigma nu , as expected from viscous transport while The accretion rate is scaled as sqrt(Sigma nu ).Previous studies have shown that pressure or rotationally supported structures are formed around giant planets, depending on the equation of state (EoS) or on the opacity. In the case of a fully radiative EoS and a constant dust to gas ratio of 0.01, we find that low-mass and low-viscosity circum-stellar disks favour the formation of a rotationally supported circum-planetary disk. Gas accretion leading to the doubling time of the planetary system >10^5 years has only been found in the case of a low-viscosity disk., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures

We study the orbital evolution and mass growth of protoplanets with masses $M \in [0.1-8]$~M$_\oplus$ in the vicinity of a dusty ring, using three-dimensional numerical simulations with a two-fluid model and nested-meshes. We find two stable, eccentric orbits that lock the planet in the ring vicinity, thereby inhibiting its migration and allowing it to accrete dust from the ring. One of these orbits has an eccentricity comparable to the aspect ratio of the gaseous disc and has its periastron within the ring, enabling intermittent accretion during each pass. The other orbit has a smaller eccentricity and an apoastron slightly inside the ring. A planet locked at the outer orbit efficiently accretes from the ring and can reach the critical mass for runaway gas accretion on timescales $\gtrsim 10^5$ yr (for a 10~M$_\oplus$ dust ring at 10~au) while a planet locked at the inner orbit has a slower growth and might not supersede the super-Earth stage over the disc lifetime. While in our runs a low-mass embryo forming within the ring eventually joins the outer orbit, it is likely that the path taken depends on the specific details of the ring. The trapping on the outer orbit arises from an intermittent, strong thermal force at each passage through the ring, where the accretion rate spikes. It is insensitive to uncertainties that plague models considering planets trapped on circular orbits in rings. It is highly robust and could allow a growing planet to follow an expanding ring over large distances., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

For the origin of the radially concentrated solar system's terrestrial planets, planet formation from a ring of solids at about 1 au from the Sun with convergent/suppressed type I migration is preferred. On the other hand, many super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are found in the close-in region with orbital periods of 10-100 days, so that planet formation from rings in the 1-au region would require some degree of inward migration. One way to realize these different formation scenarios is to use different gas disk models. In this study we investigate whether different scenarios can be realized within a single framework. We consider a disk model that evolves via disk winds and develops a density peak, and study planet formation and orbital evolution using N-body simulations. Planets with masses less than an Earth mass formed from a low-mass ring resembling the solar system do not migrate inward even in the evolving disk and remain near 1-au orbits, maintaining a high radial mass concentration. On the other hand, planets with masses greater than an Earth mass formed from a massive ring slowly migrate inward above the outward migration region. As a result, the innermost planet can move to an orbit of about 10 days. The simulation results also reproduce the characteristics (e.g., mass distribution, eccentricity, orbital separation) of the solar system and super-Earth/sub-Neptune systems. Our model predicts that Earths and sub-Earths formed by migration from rings at near the 1-au region are less abundant in the close-in region., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

In the context of low-viscosity protoplanetary discs (PPDs), the formation scenarios of the Solar System should be revisited. In particular, the Jupiter-Saturn pair has been shown to lock in the 2:1 mean motion resonance while migrating generally inwards, making the Grand Tack scenario impossible. We explore what resonant chains of multiple giant planets can form in a low-viscosity disc, and whether these configurations can evolve into forming the Solar System in the post gas disc phase. We used hydrodynamical simulations to study the migration of the giant planets in a disc with viscosity $\alpha=10^{-4}$. After a transition phase to a gas-less configuration, we studied the stability of the obtained resonant chains through their interactions with a disc of leftover planetesimals by performing N-body simulations using rebound. The gaps open by giant planets are wider and deeper for lower viscosity, reducing the damping effect of the disc and thus weakening resonant chains. Exploring numerous configurations, we found five stable resonant chains of four or five planets. In a thin PPD, the four giant planets revert their migration and migrate outwards. After disc dispersal, under the influence of a belt of planetesimals, some resonant chains undergo an instability phase while others migrate smoothly over a billion years. For three of our resonant chains, about 1% of the final configurations pass the four criteria to fit the Solar System. The most successful runs are obtained for systems formed in a cold PPD with a massive planetesimal disc. This work provides a fully consistent study of the dynamical history of the Solar System's giant planets, from the protoplanetary disc phase up to the giant planet instability. Although building resonant configurations is difficult in low-viscosity discs, we find it possible to reproduce the Solar System from a cold, low-viscosity protoplanetary disc., Comment: 13 Pages, 13 Figures, Accepted for publications in A&A

Trappist-1 hosts 7 planets where period ratios of neighbouring pairs are close to the 8:5, 5:3, 3:2, 3:2, 4:3, and 3:2 ratios in increasing distance from the star. The Laplace angles associated with neighbouring triplets are observed to be librating, proving the resonant nature of the system. This compact, resonant configuration is a manifest sign of disc-driven migration; however, the preferred outcome of such evolution is the establishment of first-order resonances, not the high-order resonances observed in the inner system. Here, we explain the observed orbital configuration in a model that is largely independent on the specific disc migration and orbital circularisation efficiencies. Together with migration, the two key elements of our model are: i) the inner border of the protoplanetary disc receded with time; and ii) the system was initially separated in two sub-systems. Specifically, the inner b, c d and e planets were initially placed in a 3:2 resonance chain and then evolved to the 8:5 -- 5:3 commensurability between planets b, c and d under the effect of the recession of the inner edge of the disc, whereas the outer planets migrated to the inner edge at a later time, establishing the remaining resonances. Our results pivot on the dynamical role of the presently unobservable recession of the inner edge of protoplanetary discs. They also reveal the role of recurring phases of convergent migration followed by resonant repulsion with associated orbital circularisation when resonant chains interact with migration barriers., Comment: To appear in Nature Astronomy

Context: The light element (anti-)correlations shown by globular clusters (GCs) are the main spectroscopic signature of multiple stellar populations. These internal abundance variations provide us with fundamental constraints on the formation mechanism of stellar clusters. Aims: Using Gaia-ESO, the largest and most homogeneous survey of open clusters (OCs), we intend to check whether these stellar aggregates display the same patterns. Based on previous studies of many GCs, several young and massive clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, as well as a few OCs, we do not expect to find any anti-correlation, given the low mass of Milky Way OCs. Methods: We used the results based on UVES spectra of stars in Gaia-ESO to derive the distribution of Na and O abundances and seevwhether they show an unexplained dispersion or whether they are anti-correlated. By selecting only high-probability members with high-precision stellar parameters, we ended up with more than 700 stars in 74 OCs. We examined the O-Na distribution in 28 OCsvwith at least 4 stars available as well as the Na distribution in 24 OCs, with at least 10 stars available. Results: We find that the distribution of Na abundances is compatible with a single-value population, within the errors. The fewvapparent exceptions can be explained by differences in the evolutionary phase (main sequence and giant post first dredge-up episode) or by difficulties in analysing low gravity giants. We did not find any indication of an Na-O anti-correlation in any of the clusters for which O has been derived. Conclusions: Based on the very small spread we find, OCs maintain the status of single stellar populations. However, a definitive answer requires studying more elements and larger samples covering different evolutionary phases. This will be possible with the next generation of large surveys, Comment: Based on the Gaia-ESO Survey. In press on Astronomy & Astrophysics. Figure A.2 updated

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is ESA's M3 mission designed to detect and characterise extrasolar planets and perform asteroseismic monitoring of a large number of stars. PLATO will detect small planets (down to <2 R_(Earth)) around bright stars (<11 mag), including terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. With the complement of radial velocity observations from the ground, planets will be characterised for their radius, mass, and age with high accuracy (5 %, 10 %, 10 % for an Earth-Sun combination respectively). PLATO will provide us with a large-scale catalogue of well-characterised small planets up to intermediate orbital periods, relevant for a meaningful comparison to planet formation theories and to better understand planet evolution. It will make possible comparative exoplanetology to place our Solar System planets in a broader context. In parallel, PLATO will study (host) stars using asteroseismology, allowing us to determine the stellar properties with high accuracy, substantially enhancing our knowledge of stellar structure and evolution. The payload instrument consists of 26 cameras with 12cm aperture each. For at least four years, the mission will perform high-precision photometric measurements. Here we review the science objectives, present PLATO's target samples and fields, provide an overview of expected core science performance as well as a description of the instrument and the mission profile at the beginning of the serial production of the flight cameras. PLATO is scheduled for a launch date end 2026. This overview therefore provides a summary of the mission to the community in preparation of the upcoming operational phases.

In our recent work, we combined dynamical simulations, meteoritic data and thermal models as well as asteroid observations to argue that the current parent body of the EL meteorites was implanted into the asteroid belt not earlier than 60 Myr after the beginning of the Solar System and that the most likely capture mechanism was the giant planet orbital instability. In the study "The link between Athor and EL meteorites does not constrain the timing of the giant planet instability" that appeared in arXiv, Izidoro and collaborators argue that the implantation of Athor into the asteroid belt does not necessarily require that the giant planet orbital instability occurred at the implantation time. Here we provide further arguments that, in the end, the giant planet instability is still the most likely dynamical process to implant asteroid Athor into the asteroid main belt between 60 and 100 Myr after the beginning of the Solar System., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; comment on arXiv:2404.10828

Mercury is notoriously difficult to form in solar system simulations, due to its small mass and iron-rich composition. Smooth particle hydrodynamics simulations of collisions have found that a Mercury-like body could be formed by one or multiple giant impacts, but due to the chaotic nature of collisions it is difficult to create a scenario where such impacts will take place. Recent work has found more success forming Mercury analogues by adding additional embryos near Mercury's orbit. In this work, we aim to form Mercury by simulating the formation of the solar system in the presence of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. We test out the effect of an inner disk of embryos added on to the commonly-used narrow annulus of initial material. We form Mercury analogues with core-mass fractions (CMF) $> 0.4$ in $\sim 10\%$ of our simulations, and twice that number of Mercury analogues form during the formation process, but are unstable and do not last to the end of the simulations. Mercury analogues form at similar rates for both disks with and without an inner component, and most of our Mercury analogues have lower CMF than that of Mercury, $\sim 0.7$, due to significant accretion of debris material. We suggest that a more in-depth understanding of the fraction of debris mass that is lost to collisional grinding is necessary to understand Mercury's formation, or some additional mechanism is required to stop this debris from accreting., Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ

The process leading to the formation of the terrestrial planet remains elusive. In a previous publication, we have shown that, if the first generation of planetesimals forms in a ring at about 1 AU and the gas disk's density peaks at the ring location, planetary embryos of a few martian masses can grow and remain in the ring. In this work, we extend our simulations beyond the gas-disk stage, covering 200 Myr and accounting for the phase of giant planet instability, assumed to happen at different times. About half of the simulations form a pair of Venus and Earth analogues and, independently, about 10% form a Mars analogue. We find that the timing of the giant planet instability affects statistically the terrestrial system's excitation state and the timing of the last giant impacts. Hence a late instability (about 60 to 100 Myr after the Solar system's birth) is more consistent with a late Moon-formation time, as suggested by radioactive chronometers. However, the late veneer mass (LVM: mass accreted after the last giant impact) of Earth-sized planets suffering a giant impact after 80 My is usually an order of magnitude lower than the value inferred from geochemistry. In addition, the final angular momentum deficit (AMD) of the terrestrial planets tends to be too high. We tested the effect on the final AMD of the generation of debris during collisions and found that it is too small to change these conclusions. We argue that the best-case scenario is that the Moon-forming event occurred between 50 and 80 My, possibly just following the giant planet instability., Comment: Accepted for publication in Icarus

The solar system's distant reaches exhibit a wealth of anomalous dynamical structure, hinting at the presence of a yet-undetected, massive trans-Neptunian body - Planet 9. Previous analyses have shown how orbital evolution induced by this object can explain the origins of a broad assortment of exotic orbits, ranging from those characterized by high perihelia to those with extreme inclinations. In this work, we shift the focus toward a more conventional class of TNOs, and consider the observed census of long-period, nearly planar, Neptune-crossing objects as a hitherto-unexplored probe of the Planet 9 hypothesis. To this end, we carry out comprehensive $N-$body simulations that self-consistently model gravitational perturbations from all giant planets, the Galactic tide, as well as passing stars, stemming from initial conditions that account for the primordial giant planet migration and sun's early evolution within a star cluster. Accounting for observational biases, our results reveal that the orbital architecture of this group of objects aligns closely with the predictions of the P9-inclusive model. In stark contrast, the P9-free scenario is statistically rejected at a $\sim5\,\sigma$ confidence-level. Accordingly, this work introduces a new line of evidence supporting the existence of Planet 9 and further delineates a series of observational predictions poised for near-term resolution., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Gravitational waves from black-hole merging events have revealed a population of extra-galactic BHs residing in short-period binaries with masses that are higher than expected based on most stellar evolution models - and also higher than known stellar-origin black holes in our Galaxy. It has been proposed that those high-mass BHs are the remnants of massive metal-poor stars. Gaia astrometry is expected to uncover many Galactic wide-binary systems containing dormant BHs, which may not have been detected before. The study of this population will provide new information on the BH-mass distribution in binaries and shed light on their formation mechanisms and progenitors. As part of the validation efforts in preparation for the fourth Gaia data release (DR4), we analysed the preliminary astrometric binary solutions, obtained by the Gaia Non-Single Star pipeline, to verify their significance and to minimise false-detection rates in high-mass-function orbital solutions. The astrometric binary solution of one source, Gaia BH3, implies the presence of a 32.70 \pm 0.82 M\odot BH in a binary system with a period of 11.6 yr. Gaia radial velocities independently validate the astrometric orbit. Broad-band photometric and spectroscopic data show that the visible component is an old, very metal-poor giant of the Galactic halo, at a distance of 590 pc. The BH in the Gaia BH3 system is more massive than any other Galactic stellar-origin BH known thus far. The low metallicity of the star companion supports the scenario that metal-poor massive stars are progenitors of the high-mass BHs detected by gravitational-wave telescopes. The Galactic orbit of the system and its metallicity indicate that it might belong to the Sequoia halo substructure. Alternatively, and more plausibly, it could belong to the ED-2 stream, which likely originated from a globular cluster that had been disrupted by the Milky Way., Comment: 23 pages, accepted fro publication in A&A Letters. New version with small fixes

The Li abundance observed in pre-main sequence and main sequence late-type stars is strongly age-dependent, but also shows a complex pattern depending on several parameters, such as rotation, chromospheric activity and metallicity. The best way to calibrate these effects, with the aim of studying Li as an age indicator for FGK stars, is to calibrate coeval groups of stars, such as open clusters (OCs) and associations. We present a considerable target sample of 42 OCs and associations, ranging from 1 Myr to 5 Gyr, observed within the Gaia-ESO survey (GES), and using the latest data provided by GES iDR6 and the most recent release of Gaia that was then available, EDR3. As part of this study, we update and improve the membership analysis for all 20 OCs presented in our previous article. We perform detailed membership analyses for all target clusters to identify likely candidates, using all available parameters provided by GES and based on numerous criteria: from radial velocity distributions, to the astrometry and photometry provided by Gaia, to gravity indicators, [Fe/H] metallicity, and Li content. We obtain updated lists of cluster members for the whole target sample, as well as a selection of Li-rich giant contaminants obtained as an additional result of the membership process. Each selection of cluster candidates was thoroughly contrasted with numerous existing membership studies using data from Gaia to ensure the most robust results. These final cluster selections will be used in the third and last paper of this series, which reports the results of a comparative study characterising the observable Li dispersion in each cluster and analysing its dependence on several parameters, allowing us to calibrate a Li-age relation and obtain a series of empirical Li envelopes for key ages in our sample., Comment: 83 pages, 246 figures. To be published in A&A, accepted January 27, 2024

The Gaia-ESO Survey is an European Southern Observatory (ESO) public spectroscopic survey that targeted $10^5$ stars in the Milky Way covering the major populations of the disk, bulge and halo. The observations were made using FLAMES on the VLT obtaining both UVES high ($R\sim47,000$) and GIRAFFE medium ($R\sim20,000$) resolution spectra. The analysis of the Gaia-ESO spectra was the work of multiple analysis teams (nodes) within five working groups (WG). The homogenisation of the stellar parameters within WG11 (high resolution observations of FGK stars) and the homogenisation of the stellar parameters within WG10 (medium resolution observations of FGK stars) is described here. In both cases, the homogenisation was carried out using a bayesian Inference method developed specifically for the Gaia-ESO Survey by WG11. The WG10 homogenisation primarily used the cross-match of stars with WG11 as the reference set in both the stellar parameter and chemical abundance homogenisation. In this way the WG10 homogenised results have been placed directly onto the WG11 stellar parameter and chemical abundance scales. The reference set for the metal-poor end was sparse which limited the effectiveness of the homogenisation in that regime. For WG11, the total number of stars for which stellar parameters were derived was 6,231 with typical uncertainties for Teff, log g and [Fe/H] of 32~K, 0.05 and 0.05 respectively. One or more chemical abundances out of a possible 39 elements were derived for 6,188 of the stars. For WG10, the total number of stars for which stellar parameters were derived was 76,675 with typical uncertainties for Teff, log g and [Fe/H] of 64~K, 0.15 and 0.07 respectively. One or more chemical abundances out of a possible 30 elements were derived for 64,177 of the stars., Comment: 31 pages, 19 figures

For decades, the spectral variations of Beta Pictoris have been modelled as the result of the evaporation of exocomets close to the star, termed falling evaporating bodies (FEBs). Resonant perturbations by a giant planet have been proposed to explain the dynamical origin of these stargrazers. The disk is now known to harbour two giant planets, Beta Pic b and c, orbiting the star at 9.9 au and 2.7 au. While the former almost matches the planet formerly suspected, the discovery of the latter complicates the picture. We first question the stability of the two-planet system. Then we investigate the dynamics of a disk of planetesimals orbiting the star with both planets to check the validity of the FEB generation mechanism. Symplectic N-body simulations are used to determine which regions of the planetesimal disk are dynamically stable. Then we focus on regions where disk particles are able to reach high eccentricities thanks to resonant mechanisms. The first result is that the system is dynamically stable. Both planets may temporarily fall in 7:1 mean motion resonance (MMR). Then, simulations reveal that the whole region extending between ~1.5 au and ~25 au is unstable to planetary perturbations. However, a disk below 1.5 au survives, which appears to constitute an active source of FEBs via high-order MMRs with Beta Pic c. Beta Pic b acts as a distant perturber that helps sustain the whole process. These simulations rule out the preceding FEB generation mechanism model, which placed their origin at around 4-5 au. Conversely, FEBs are likely to originate from a region much further in and related to MMRs with Beta Pic c. That mechanism also appears to last longer, as new planetesimals are able to continuously enter the MMRs and evolve towards the FEB state. Subsequently, the physical nature of the FEBs may differ from that previously thought, and presumably may not be icy., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We study the subRiemannian cut time and cut locus of a given point in a class of step-2 Carnot groups of Reiter-Heisenberg type. Following the Hamiltonian point of view, we write and analyze extremal curves, getting the cut time of any of them, and a precise description of the set of cut points., Comment: Accepted version (to appear on ESAIM: Control, Optimisation and Calculus of Variations)

We present the first large-scale 3D kinematic study of ~2000 spectroscopically-confirmed young stars (<20 Myr) in 18 star clusters and OB associations (hereafter groups) from the combination of Gaia astrometry and Gaia-ESO Survey spectroscopy. We measure 3D velocity dispersions for all groups, which range from 0.61 to 7.4 km/s (1D velocity dispersions of 0.35 to 4.3 km/s). We find the majority of groups have anisotropic velocity dispersions, suggesting they are not dynamically relaxed. From the 3D velocity dispersions, measured radii and estimates of total mass we estimate the virial state and find that all systems are super-virial when only the stellar mass is considered, but that some systems are sub-virial when the mass of the molecular cloud is taken into account. We observe an approximately linear correlation between the 3D velocity dispersion and the group mass, which would imply that the virial state of groups scales as the square root of the group mass. However, we do not observe a strong correlation between virial state and group mass. In agreement with their virial state we find that nearly all of the groups studied are in the process of expanding and that the expansion is anisotropic, implying that groups were not spherical prior to expansion. One group, Rho Oph, is found to be contracting and in a sub-virial state (when the mass of the surrounding molecular cloud is considered). This work provides a glimpse of the potential of the combination of Gaia and data from the next generation of spectroscopic surveys., Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Gaia's readout window strategy is challenged by very dense fields in the sky. Therefore, in addition to standard Gaia observations, full Sky Mapper (SM) images were recorded for nine selected regions in the sky. A new software pipeline exploits these Service Interface Function (SIF) images of crowded fields (CFs), making use of the availability of the full two-dimensional (2D) information. This new pipeline produced half a million additional Gaia sources in the region of the omega Centauri ($\omega$ Cen) cluster, which are published with this Focused Product Release. We discuss the dedicated SIF CF data reduction pipeline, validate its data products, and introduce their Gaia archive table. Our aim is to improve the completeness of the {\it Gaia} source inventory in a very dense region in the sky, $\omega$ Cen. An adapted version of {\it Gaia}'s Source Detection and Image Parameter Determination software located sources in the 2D SIF CF images. We validated the results by comparing them to the public {\it Gaia} DR3 catalogue and external Hubble Space Telescope data. With this Focused Product Release, 526\,587 new sources have been added to the {\it Gaia} catalogue in $\omega$ Cen. Apart from positions and brightnesses, the additional catalogue contains parallaxes and proper motions, but no meaningful colour information. While SIF CF source parameters generally have a lower precision than nominal {\it Gaia} sources, in the cluster centre they increase the depth of the combined catalogue by three magnitudes and improve the source density by a factor of ten. This first SIF CF data publication already adds great value to the {\it Gaia} catalogue. It demonstrates what to expect for the fourth {\it Gaia} catalogue, which will contain additional sources for all nine SIF CF regions.

Context. Strongly lensed quasars are fundamental sources for cosmology. The Gaia space mission covers the entire sky with the unprecedented resolution of $0.18$" in the optical, making it an ideal instrument to search for gravitational lenses down to the limiting magnitude of 21. Nevertheless, the previous Gaia Data Releases are known to be incomplete for small angular separations such as those expected for most lenses. Aims. We present the Data Processing and Analysis Consortium GravLens pipeline, which was built to analyse all Gaia detections around quasars and to cluster them into sources, thus producing a catalogue of secondary sources around each quasar. We analysed the resulting catalogue to produce scores that indicate source configurations that are compatible with strongly lensed quasars. Methods. GravLens uses the DBSCAN unsupervised clustering algorithm to detect sources around quasars. The resulting catalogue of multiplets is then analysed with several methods to identify potential gravitational lenses. We developed and applied an outlier scoring method, a comparison between the average BP and RP spectra of the components, and we also used an extremely randomised tree algorithm. These methods produce scores to identify the most probable configurations and to establish a list of lens candidates. Results. We analysed the environment of 3 760 032 quasars. A total of 4 760 920 sources, including the quasars, were found within 6" of the quasar positions. This list is given in the Gaia archive. In 87\% of cases, the quasar remains a single source, and in 501 385 cases neighbouring sources were detected. We propose a list of 381 lensed candidates, of which we identified 49 as the most promising. Beyond these candidates, the associate tables in this Focused Product Release allow the entire community to explore the unique Gaia data for strong lensing studies further., Comment: 35 pages, 60 figures, accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysics

The third Gaia Data Release (DR3) provided photometric time series of more than 2 million long-period variable (LPV) candidates. Anticipating the publication of full radial-velocity (RV) in DR4, this Focused Product Release (FPR) provides RV time series for a selection of LPVs with high-quality observations. We describe the production and content of the Gaia catalog of LPV RV time series, and the methods used to compute variability parameters published in the Gaia FPR. Starting from the DR3 LPVs catalog, we applied filters to construct a sample of sources with high-quality RV measurements. We modeled their RV and photometric time series to derive their periods and amplitudes, and further refined the sample by requiring compatibility between the RV period and at least one of the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, or $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric periods. The catalog includes RV time series and variability parameters for 9\,614 sources in the magnitude range $6\lesssim G/{\rm mag}\lesssim 14$, including a flagged top-quality subsample of 6\,093 stars whose RV periods are fully compatible with the values derived from the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, and $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric time series. The RV time series contain a mean of 24 measurements per source taken unevenly over a duration of about three years. We identify the great most sources (88%) as genuine LPVs, with about half of them showing a pulsation period and the other half displaying a long secondary period. The remaining 12% consists of candidate ellipsoidal binaries. Quality checks against RVs available in the literature show excellent agreement. We provide illustrative examples and cautionary remarks. The publication of RV time series for almost 10\,000 LPVs constitutes, by far, the largest such database available to date in the literature. The availability of simultaneous photometric measurements gives a unique added value to the Gaia catalog (abridged), Comment: 36 pages, 38 figures

Neptune-sized planets exhibit a wide range of compositions and densities, depending onf cators related to their formation and evolution history, such as the distance from their host stars and atmospheric escape processes. They can vary from relatively low-density planets with thick hydrogen-helium atmospheres to higher-density planets with a substantial amount of water or a rocky interior with a thinner atmosphere, such as HD 95338 b, TOI-849 b and TOI-2196 b. The discovery of exoplanets in the hot-Neptune desert, a region close to the host stars with a deficit of Neptune-sized planets, provides insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems, including the existence of this region itself. Here we show observations of the transiting planet TOI-1853 b, which has a radius of 3.46 +- 0.08 Earth radii and orbits a dwarf star every 1.24 days. This planet has a mass of 73.2 +- 2.7 Earth masses, almost twice that of any other Neptune-sized planet known so far, and a density of 9.7 +- 0.8 grams per cubic centimetre. These values place TOI-1853 b in the middle of the Neptunian desert and imply that heavy elements dominate its mass. The properties of TOI-1853 b present a puzzle for conventional theories of planetary formation and evolution, and could be the result of several proto-planet collisions or the final state of an initially high-eccentricity planet that migrated closer to its parent star., Comment: Preprint submitted to Nature. Please refer to the published version for the final parameters estimations

We improved the algorithm presented in Rubie et al. (2015) to model the chemical evolution of Earth driven by iron/silicate differentiation during the planet's accretion. The pressure at which the equilibration occurs during a giant impact is no longer a free parameter but is determined by the smooth particle hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations of Nakajima et al. (2021). Moreover, impacting planetesimals are now assumed to be too small to cause melting and differentiation and thus their materials are stored in the crystalline upper mantle of the growing planet until a hydrostatically relaxed global magma ocean forms in the aftermath of a giant impact, whose depth is also estimated from Nakajima et al. (2021). With these changes, not all dynamical simulations lead to a satisfactory reproduction of the chemical composition of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE). Thus, the latter becomes diagnostic of the success of dynamical models. In the successful cases also the BSE abundances of W and Mo can be reproduced, that were previously hard to fit (Jennings et al., 2021)., Comment: Accepted in Icarus

The tumultuous early era of outer solar system evolution culminated when Neptune migrated across the primordial Kuiper belt (PKB) and triggered a dynamical instability among the giant planets. This event led to the ejection of approximately 99.9\% of the PKB (here called the destabilized population), heavy bombardment of the giant planet satellites, and the capture of Jupiter's Trojans. While this scenario has been widely tested using dynamical models, there have been fewer investigations into how the PKB, its destabilized population, and the Trojans experienced collisional evolution. Here we examined this issue for all three populations with the code Boulder. Our constraints included the size-frequency distributions (SFDs) of the Trojan asteroids and craters on the giant planet satellites. Using this combination, we solved for the unknown disruption law affecting bodies in these populations. The weakest ones, from an impact energy per mass perspective, were 20 m in diameter. Overall, collisional evolution produces a power-law-like shape for multikilometer Trojans and a wavy-shaped SFD in the PKB and destabilized populations. The latter can explain (i) the shapes of the ancient and younger crater SFDs observed on the giant planet satellites, (ii) the shapes of the Jupiter family and long-period comet SFDs, which experienced different degrees of collision evolution, and (iii) the present-day impact frequency of superbolides on Jupiter and smaller projectiles on Saturn's rings. Our model results also indicate that many observed comets, most which are smaller than 10 km in diameter, are likely to be gravitational aggregates formed by large-scale collision events., Comment: 95 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in PSJ

Understanding planetesimal formation is an essential first step to understanding planet formation. The distribution of these first solid bodies will drive the locations where planetary embryos can grow. We seek to understand the parameter space of possible protoplanetary disk formation and evolution models of our Solar System. A good protoplanetary disk scenario for the Solar System must meet at least the following three criteria: 1) an extended dust disk (at least 45 au); 2) formation of planetesimals in at least two distinct locations; and 3) transport of high temperatures condensates (i.e., calcium-aluminium-rich inclusion, CAIs) to the outer disk. We explore a large parameter space to study the effect of the disk viscosity, the timescale of infall of material into the disk, the distance within which material is deposited into the disk, and the fragmentation threshold of dust particles. We find that scenarios with a large initial disk viscosity ($\alpha>0.05$), relatively short infall timescale ($T_{infall}<100-200$ kyr), and a small centrifugal radius ($R_C\sim0.4$~au; the distance within which material falls into the disk) result in disks that satisfy the criteria for a good protoplanetary disk of the Solar System. The large initial viscosity and short infall timescale result in a rapid initial expansion of the disk, which we dub the inflationary phase of the disk. Furthermore, a temperature-dependent fragmentation threshold, which mimics that cold icy particles break more easily, results in larger and more massive disks. This results in more "icy" than "rocky" planetesimals. Such scenarios are also better in line with our Solar System, which has small terrestrial planets and massive giant planet cores. Finally, we find that scenarios with large $R_C$ cannot transport CAIs to the outer disk and do not produce planetesimals at two locations within the disk., Comment: accepted to be published in A&A

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are a transient population of small bodies with orbits near or in the terrestrial planet region. They represent a mid-stage in the dynamical cycle of asteroids and comets, which starts with their removal from the respective source regions -- the main belt and trans-Neptunian scattered disk -- and ends as bodies impact planets, disintegrate near the Sun, or are ejected from the Solar System. Here we develop a new orbital model of NEOs by numerically integrating asteroid orbits from main belt sources and calibrating the results on observations of the Catalina Sky Survey. The results imply a size-dependent sampling of the main belt with the $\nu_6$ and 3:1 resonances producing $\simeq 30$\% of NEOs with absolute magnitudes $H = 15$ and $\simeq 80$\% of NEOs with $H = 25$. Hence, the large and small NEOs have different orbital distributions. The inferred flux of $H<18$ bodies into the 3:1 resonance can be sustained only if the main-belt asteroids near the resonance drift toward the resonance at the maximal Yarkovsky rate ($\simeq 2 \times 10^{-4}$ au Myr$^{-1}$ for diameter $D=1$ km and semimajor axis $a=2.5$~au). This implies obliquities $\theta \simeq 0^\circ$ for $a<2.5$~au and $\theta \simeq 180^\circ$ for $a>2.5$~au, both in the immediate neighborhood of the resonance (the same applies to other resonances as well). We confirm the size-dependent disruption of asteroids near the Sun found in previous studies. An interested researcher can use the publicly available NEOMOD Simulator to generate user-defined samples of NEOs from our model., Comment: AJ

After performing a reassessment of the known dynamical asteroid families in the inner main belt, we report a newly discovered ancient asteroid family with an estimated age of $4.3\pm1.7$ billion years. Additionally, we report the most comprehensive list of planetesimals, which are asteroids that survived since the planet forming days of the solar system., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures

Context: Radius and mass measurements of short-period giant planets reveal that many of these planets contain a large amount of heavy elements, in sharp contrast with the expectations of the conventional core-accretion model for the origin of giant planets. Aims: The proposed explanations for the heavy-element enrichment of giant planets fall short of explaining the most enriched planets. We look for additional processes that can explain the full envelope of inferred enrichments. Methods: We revisit the dynamics of pebbles and dust in the vicinity of giant planets using analytic estimates. Although our results are derived in the framework of a viscous alpha-disk we also discuss the case of disks driven by angular momentum removal in magnetized winds. Results: When giant planets are far from the star, dust and pebbles are confined in a pressure bump at the outer edge of the planet-induced gap. Instead, when the planets reach the inner part of the disk (r << 2 au), dust penetrates the gap together with the gas. The dust/gas ratio can be enhanced by more than an order of magnitude if radial drift of dust is not impeded farther out by other barriers. Thus, hot planets undergoing runaway gas accretion can swallow a large amount of dust. Conclusions: Whereas the gas accreted by giant planets in the outer disk is very dust-poor, that accreted by hot planets can be extremely dust-rich. Thus, provided that a large fraction of the atmosphere of hot-Jupiters is accreted in situ, a large amount of dust can be accreted as well. We draw a distinction between this process and pebble accretion, which is ineffective at small stellocentric radii, even for super-Earths. Giant planets farther out in the disk are extremely effective barriers against the flow of pebbles and dust across their gap., Comment: In press in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present an empirical model of age-dependent photospheric lithium depletion, calibrated using a large, homogeneously-analysed sample of 6200 stars in 52 open clusters, with ages from 2--6000 Myr and $-0.3<{\rm [Fe/H}]<0.2$, observed in the Gaia-ESO spectroscopic survey. The model is used to obtain age estimates and posterior age probability distributions from measurements of the Li I 6708A equivalent width for individual (pre) main sequence stars with $3000 < T_{\rm eff}/{\rm K} <6500$, a domain where age determination from the HR diagram is either insensitive or highly model-dependent. In the best cases, precisions of 0.1 dex in log age are achievable; even higher precision can be obtained for coeval groups and associations where the individual age probabilities of their members can be combined. The method is validated on a sample of exoplanet-hosting young stars, finding agreement with claimed young ages for some, but not others. We obtain better than 10 per cent precision in age, and excellent agreement with published ages, for seven well-studied young moving groups. The derived ages for young clusters ($<1$ Gyr) in our sample are also in good agreement with their training ages, and consistent with several published, model-insensitive lithium depletion boundary ages. For older clusters there remain systematic age errors that could be as large as a factor of two. There is no evidence to link these errors to any strong systematic metallicity dependence of (pre) main sequence lithium depletion, at least in the range $-0.29 < {\rm [Fe/H]} < 0.18$. Our methods and model are provided as software -- "Empirical AGes from Lithium Equivalent widthS" (EAGLES)., Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Code available at https://github.com/robdjeff/eagles

The Gaia-ESO Survey is a public spectroscopic survey that has targeted $\gtrsim10^5$ stars covering all major components of the Milky Way from the end of 2011 to 2018, delivering its public final release in May 2022. Unlike other spectroscopic surveys, Gaia-ESO is the only survey that observed stars across all spectral types with dedicated, specialised analyses: from O ($T_\mathrm{eff} \sim 30,000-52,000$~K) all the way to K-M ($\gtrsim$3,500~K). The physics throughout these stellar regimes varies significantly, which has previously prohibited any detailed comparisons between stars of significantly different type. In the final data release (internal data release 6) of the Gaia-ESO Survey, we provide the final database containing a large number of products such as radial velocities, stellar parameters and elemental abundances, rotational velocity, and also, e.g., activity and accretion indicators in young stars and membership probability in star clusters for more than 114,000 stars. The spectral analysis is coordinated by a number of Working Groups (WGs) within the Survey, which specialise in the various stellar samples. Common targets are analysed across WGs to allow for comparisons (and calibrations) amongst instrumental setups and spectral types. Here we describe the procedures employed to ensure all Survey results are placed on a common scale to arrive at a single set of recommended results for all Survey collaborators to use. We also present some general quality and consistency checks performed over all Survey results., Comment: A&A accepted, minor revision, 36 pages, 38 figures

The exoplanet population characterized by relatively short orbital periods ($P<100$ d) around solar-type stars is dominated by super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. However, these planets are missing in our Solar System and the reason behind this absence is still unknown. Two theoretical scenarios invoke the role of Jupiter as the possible culprit: Jupiter may have acted as a dynamical barrier to the inward migration of sub-Neptunes from beyond the water iceline; alternatively, Jupiter may have reduced considerably the inward flux of material (pebbles) required to form super-Earths inside that iceline. Both scenarios predict an anti-correlation between the presence of small planets (SPs) and that of cold Jupiters (CJs) in exoplanetary systems. To test that prediction, we homogeneously analyzed the radial-velocity (RV) measurements of 38 Kepler and K2 transiting SP systems gathered over almost 10 years with the HARPS-N spectrograph, as well as publicly available RVs collected with other facilities. We detected five CJs in three systems, two in Kepler-68, two in Kepler-454, and a very eccentric one in K2-312. We derived an occurrence rate of $9.3^{+7.7}_{-2.9}\%$ for CJs with $0.3-13~M_{Jup}$ and 1-10 AU, which is lower but still compatible at $1.3\sigma$ with that measured from RV surveys for solar-type stars, regardless of the presence or absence of SPs. The sample is not large enough to draw a firm conclusion about the predicted anti-correlation between SPs and CJs; nevertheless, we found no evidence of previous claims of an excess of CJs in SP systems. As an important by-product of our analyses, we homogeneously determined the masses of 64 Kepler and K2 small planets, reaching a precision better than 5, 7.5 and 10$\sigma$ for 25, 13 and 8 planets, respectively. Finally, we release the 3661 HARPS-N radial velocities used in this work to the scientific community. [Abridged], Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, 10 tables, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The updated version of the article takes into account the A&A language editing and guidelines. Tables 1, A.1 and full Table 2 are available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr (130.79.128.5) or via https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/677/A33

The lunar crater record features $\sim 50$ basins. The radiometric dating of Apollo samples indicates that the Imbrium basin formed relatively late -- from the planet formation perspective -- some $\simeq 3.9$ Ga. Here we develop a dynamical model for impactors in the inner solar system to provide context for the interpretation of the lunar crater record. The contribution of cometary impactors is found to be insignificant. Asteroids produced most large impacts on the terrestrial worlds in the last $\simeq 3$ Gyr. The great majority of early impactors were rocky planetesimals left behind at $\sim 0.5$--1.5 au after the terrestrial planet accretion. The population of terrestrial planetesimals was reduced by disruptive collisions in the first $t \sim 20$ Myr after the gas disk dispersal. We estimate that there were $\sim 4 \times 10^5$ diameter $d>10$ km bodies when the Moon formed (total planetesimal mass $\sim 0.015$ $M_{\rm Earth}$ at $t \sim 50$ Myr). The early bombardment of the Moon was intense. To accommodate $\sim 50$ known basins, the lunar basins that formed before $\simeq 4.35$--4.41 Ga must have been erased. The late formation of Imbrium occurs with a $\sim 15$--35\% probability in our model. About 20 $d>10$-km bodies were expected to hit the Earth between 2.5 and 3.5 Ga, which is comparable to the number of known spherule beds in the late Archean. We discuss implications of our model for the lunar/Martian crater chronologies, Late Veneer, and noble gases in the Earth atmosphere., Comment: Icarus, in press

It has been long proposed that, if all the terrestrial planets form within a tiny ring of solid material at around 1 AU, the concentrated mass-distance distribution of the current system can be reproduced. Recent planetesimal formation models also support this idea. In this study, we revisit the ring model by performing a number of high-resolution N-body simulations for 10 Myr of a ring of self-interacting planetesimals, with various radial distributions of the gas disc. We found that even if all the planetesimals form at ~1 AU in a minimum mass solar nebula-like disc, the system tends to spread radially as accretion proceeds, resulting in a system of planetary embryos lacking mass-concentration at ~1 AU. Modifying the surface density of the gas disc into a concave shape with a peak at ~1 AU helps to maintain mass concentrated at ~1 AU and solve the radial dispersion problem. We further propose that such a disc should be short lived (<= 1 Myr) and with a shallower radial gradient in the innermost region (< 1 AU) than previously proposed to prevent a too-rapid growth of Earth. Future studies should extend to ~100 Myr the most promising simulations and address in a self-consistent manner the evolution of the asteroid belt and its role in the formation of the terrestrial planets., Comment: Accepted by Icarus

Neptunian Trojans (NTs), trans-Neptunian objects in 1:1 mean-motion resonance with Neptune, are generally thought to have been captured from the original trans-Neptunian protoplanetary disk into co-orbital resonance with the ice giant during its outward migration. It is possible, therefore, that the colour distribution of NTs is a constraint on the location of any colour transition zones that may have been present in the disk. In support of this possible test, we obtained $g$, $r$, and $i$-band observations of 18 NTs, more than doubling the sample of NTs with known visible colours to 31 objects. Out of the combined sample, we found $\approx$4 objects with $g$-$i$ colours of $>$1.2 mags placing them in the very red (VR) category as typically defined. We find, without taking observational selection effects into account, that the NT $g$-$i$ colour distribution is statistically distinct from other trans-Neptunian dynamical classes. The optical colours of Jovian Trojans and NTs are shown to be less similar than previously claimed with additional VR NTs. The presence of VR objects among the NTs may suggest that the location of the red to VR colour transition zone in the protoplanetary disk was interior to 30-35 au., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS:Letters

The Gaia-ESO survey sample of massive OB stars in the Carina Nebula consists of 234 stars. The addition of brighter sources from the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey and additional sources from the literature allows us to create the most complete census of massive OB stars done so far in the region. It contains a total of 316 stars, being 18 of them in the background and four in the foreground. Of the 294 stellar systems in Car OB1, 74 are of O type, 214 are of non-supergiant B type and 6 are of WR or non-O supergiant (II to Ia) spectral class. We identify 20 spectroscopic binary systems with an O-star primary, of which 6 are reported for the first time, and another 18 with a B-star primary, of which 13 are new detections. The average observed double-lined binary fraction of O-type stars in the surveyed region is 0.35, which represents a lower limit. We find a good correlation between the spectroscopic n-qualifier and the projected rotational velocity of the stars. The fraction of candidate runaways among the stars with and without the n-qualifier is 4.4% and 2.4%, respectively, although non resolved double-lined binaries can be contaminating the fast rotators sample., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 62 pages, 8 figures

The formation of super-Earths, the most abundant planets in the Galaxy, remains elusive. These planets have masses that typically exceed that of the Earth by a factor of a few; appear to be predominantly rocky, although often surrounded by H/He atmospheres; and frequently occur in multiples. Moreover, planets that encircle the same star tend to have similar masses and radii, whereas those belonging to different systems exhibit remarkable overall diversity. Here, we advance a theoretical picture for rocky planet formation that satisfies the aforementioned constraints: building upon recent work - which demonstrates that planetesimals can form rapidly at discrete locations in the disk - we propose that super-Earths originate inside rings of silicate-rich planetesimals at approximately ~1 AU. Within the context of this picture, we show that planets grow primarily through pairwise collisions among rocky planetesimals, until they achieve terminal masses that are regulated by isolation and orbital migration. We quantify our model with numerical simulations and demonstrate that our synthetic planetary systems bear a close resemblance to compact, multi-resonant progenitors of the observed population of short-period extrasolar planets. Our results thus indicate that the absence of short-period super-Earths within the solar system can simply be attributed to the comparatively low mass of the primordial planetesimal ring within the protosolar nebula., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Nature Astronomy

(Abridged) Studies have shown that a Jovian mass planet embedded in a viscous protoplanetary disc (PPD) can accrete gas efficiently through the gap and doubles its mass in $\sim 0.1$ Myr. The planet also migrates inwards on a timescale of $\sim 0.1$ Myr. These timescales are short compared to PPD lifetimes, and raise questions about the origins of cold giant exoplanets. However, PPDs are unlikely to be globally turbulent, and instead they may launch magnetised winds such that accretion towards the star occurs in laminar accretion flows located in narrow layers near the surfaces of the disc. The aim of this study is to examine the rate at which gas accretes onto Jovian mass planets that are embedded in layered PPDs. We use 3D hydrodynamical simulations of planets embedded in PPDs, in which a constant radial mass flux towards the star of ${\dot m} = 10^{-8}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ is sustained. We consider a classical viscous alpha model, and also models in which an external torque is applied in narrow surface layers to mimic the effects of a magnetised wind. The accreting layers are parameterised by their column densities $\Sigma_{\rm A}$, and we consider values in the range 0.1 to 10 g cm$^{-2}$. The viscous model gives results in agreement with previous studies. We find the accretion rate onto the planet in the layered models crucially depends on the planet's ability to block the wind-induced mass flow. For $\Sigma_{\rm A}=10$ g cm$^{-2}$, the planet torque can block the mass flow through the disc, accretion onto the planet is slow, and a mass doubling time of 10 Myr is obtained. For $\Sigma_{\rm A}=0.1$ g cm$^{-2}$, accretion is fast and the mass doubling time is 0.2 Myr. Although the radial mass flow through the layered disc models is always $10^{-8}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, adopting different values of $\Sigma_{\rm A}$ leads to very different gas accretion rates onto gas giant planets., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics