The Primordial Solar Wind as a Sculptor of Terrestrial Planet Formation

Our solar system is almost entirely devoid of material interior to Mercury's orbit, in sharp contrast to the multiple Earth masses of material commonly residing within the analogous region of extrasolar planetary systems. Recent work has suggested that Jupiter's orbital migration early in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astrophysical journal. Letters 2018-12, Vol.869 (1), p.L17
Main Author: Spalding, Christopher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asteroids
Earth
Extrasolar planets
High temperature
Inner solar system
Iron content
Jupiter
Magnetic fields
Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Planet formation
Planetary mass
Planetary systems
planets and satellites: formation
planets and satellites: terrestrial planets
Ram pressure
Solar system
Solar wind
Terrestrial environments
Terrestrial planets
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Summary:Our solar system is almost entirely devoid of material interior to Mercury's orbit, in sharp contrast to the multiple Earth masses of material commonly residing within the analogous region of extrasolar planetary systems. Recent work has suggested that Jupiter's orbital migration early in the solar system's history fragmented primordial planetary material within the inner solar system. However, the reason for the absence of subsequent planet formation within 0.4 au remains unsolved. Here, we show that leftover debris interior to Mercury's current orbit was susceptible to outward migration driven by the early Solar wind, enhanced by the Sun's primordial rapid rotation and strong magnetic field. The ram pressure arising from azimuthal motion of the Solar wind plasma transported ∼100 m-sized objects and smaller from 0.1 au out to the terrestrial planet-forming zone within the suspected ∼30-50 Myr timespan of the Earth's formation. The mass of material within this size class typically exceeds Mercury, and can rival that of Earth. Consequently, the present-day region of terrestrial planets and the asteroid belt has been supplied by a large mass of material from the innermost, hot solar system, providing a potential explanation for the evidence of high-temperature alteration within some asteroids and the high iron content of Mercury.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/aaf478