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dc.contributor.authorNakajima, M.
dc.contributor.authorGenda, H.
dc.contributor.authorAsphaug, E.
dc.contributor.authorIda, S.
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-17T01:57:16Z
dc.date.available2022-03-17T01:57:16Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.identifier.citationNakajima, M., Genda, H., Asphaug, E., & Ida, S. (2022). Large planets may not form fractionally large moons. Nature Communications.
dc.identifier.issn2041-1723
dc.identifier.pmid35105877
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41467-022-28063-8
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/663609
dc.description.abstractOne of the unique aspects of Earth is that it has a fractionally large Moon, which is thought to have formed from a Moon-forming disk generated by a giant impact. The Moon stabilizes the Earth’s spin axis at least by several degrees and contributes to Earth’s stable climate. Given that impacts are common during planet formation, exomoons, which are moons around planets in extrasolar systems, should be common as well, but no exomoon has been confirmed. Here we propose that an initially vapor-rich moon-forming disk is not capable of forming a moon that is large with respect to the size of the planet because growing moonlets, which are building blocks of a moon, experience strong gas drag and quickly fall toward the planet. Our impact simulations show that terrestrial and icy planets that are larger than ~1.3−1.6R⊕ produce entirely vapor disks, which fail to form a fractionally large moon. This indicates that (1) our model supports the Moon-formation models that produce vapor-poor disks and (2) rocky and icy exoplanets whose radii are smaller than ~1.6R⊕ are ideal candidates for hosting fractionally large exomoons. © 2022, The Author(s).
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.rightsCopyright © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleLarge planets may not form fractionally large moons
dc.typeArticle
dc.typetext
dc.contributor.departmentUniversity of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
dc.identifier.journalNature Communications
dc.description.noteOpen access journal
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.
dc.eprint.versionFinal published version
dc.source.journaltitleNature Communications
refterms.dateFOA2022-03-17T01:57:16Z


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Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.