Planet Formation and the Rise of Life

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Astrobiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2013) | Viewed by 31566

Special Issue Editor

Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Faculty of ICT, Swinburne University of Technology, H30, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Interests: planet formation; grain growth; refractory grains;disk dynamics; disk evolution; debris disks; planetary dynamics; planet-disk interactions; radio interferometry; gas+dust hydrodynamics; N-body simulations; thermodynamics and condensation; molecular clouds; conditions of star formation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While the building blocks of life appear to be  available in molecular clouds, life almost certainly needs a host planet on which to form and evolve. Understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems is a vital first step in our understanding of life. This special edition invites new works and reviews covering topics related to the formation of the first condensates; the growth of planetesimals and planetary systems in protoplanetary discs; the early chemical and dynamical evolution of our Solar System; and the dynamics and architecture of the exoplanet systems we observe around main-sequence stars today and potential implications to the rise of life.

Dr. Sarah Maddison
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • protoplanetary disks
  • planetesimals formation
  • grain growth
  • grain chemistry
  • disk evolution
  • planet-disk interaction
  • debris disks;
  • habitable zone
  • planetary dynamics
  • extrasolar planets

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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831 KiB  
Article
Disk Evolution, Element Abundances and Cloud Properties of Young Gas Giant Planets
by Christiane Helling, Peter Woitke, Paul B. Rimmer, Inga Kamp, Wing-Fai Thi and Rowin Meijerink
Life 2014, 4(2), 142-173; https://doi.org/10.3390/life4020142 - 14 Apr 2014
Cited by 80 | Viewed by 7042
Abstract
We discuss the chemical pre-conditions for planet formation, in terms of gas and ice abundances in a protoplanetary disk, as function of time and position, and the resulting chemical composition and cloud properties in the atmosphere when young gas giant planets form, in [...] Read more.
We discuss the chemical pre-conditions for planet formation, in terms of gas and ice abundances in a protoplanetary disk, as function of time and position, and the resulting chemical composition and cloud properties in the atmosphere when young gas giant planets form, in particular discussing the effects of unusual, non-solar carbon and oxygen abundances. Large deviations between the abundances of the host star and its gas giants seem likely to occur if the planet formation follows the core-accretion scenario. These deviations stem from the separate evolution of gas and dust in the disk, where the dust forms the planet cores, followed by the final run-away accretion of the left-over gas. This gas will contain only traces of elements like C, N and O, because those elements have frozen out as ices. PRODIMO protoplanetary disk models are used to predict the chemical evolution of gas and ice in the midplane. We find that cosmic rays play a crucial role in slowly un-blocking the CO, where the liberated oxygen forms water, which then freezes out quickly. Therefore, the C/O ratio in the gas phase is found to gradually increase with time, in a region bracketed by the water and CO ice-lines. In this regions, C/O is found to approach unity after about 5 Myrs, scaling with the cosmic ray ionization rate assumed. We then explore how the atmospheric chemistry and cloud properties in young gas giants are affected when the non-solar C/O ratios predicted by the disk models are assumed. The DRIFT cloud formation model is applied to study the formation of atmospheric clouds under the influence of varying premordial element abundances and its feedback onto the local gas. We demonstrate that element depletion by cloud formation plays a crucial role in converting an oxygen-rich atmosphere gas into carbon-rich gas when non-solar, premordial element abundances are considered as suggested by disk models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planet Formation and the Rise of Life)
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11412 KiB  
Article
The Formation of Jupiter, the Jovian Early Bombardment and the Delivery of Water to the Asteroid Belt: The Case of (4) Vesta
by Diego Turrini and Vladimir Svetsov
Life 2014, 4(1), 4-34; https://doi.org/10.3390/life4010004 - 28 Jan 2014
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 7319
Abstract
The asteroid (4) Vesta, parent body of the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite meteorites, is one of the first bodies that formed, mostly from volatile-depleted material, in the Solar System. The Dawn mission recently provided evidence that hydrated material was delivered to Vesta, possibly in a continuous [...] Read more.
The asteroid (4) Vesta, parent body of the Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite meteorites, is one of the first bodies that formed, mostly from volatile-depleted material, in the Solar System. The Dawn mission recently provided evidence that hydrated material was delivered to Vesta, possibly in a continuous way, over the last 4 Ga, while the study of the eucritic meteorites revealed a few samples that crystallized in presence of water and volatile elements. The formation of Jupiter and probably its migration occurred in the period when eucrites crystallized, and triggered a phase of bombardment that caused icy planetesimals to cross the asteroid belt. In this work, we study the flux of icy planetesimals on Vesta during the Jovian Early Bombardment and, using hydrodynamic simulations, the outcome of their collisions with the asteroid. We explore how the migration of the giant planet would affect the delivery of water and volatile materials to the asteroid and we discuss our results in the context of the geophysical and collisional evolution of Vesta. In particular, we argue that the observational data are best reproduced if the bulk of the impactors was represented by 1–2 km wide planetesimals and if Jupiter underwent a limited (a fraction of au) displacement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planet Formation and the Rise of Life)
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671 KiB  
Article
Stability toward High Energy Radiation of Non-Proteinogenic Amino Acids: Implications for the Origins of Life
by Franco Cataldo, Susana Iglesias-Groth, Giancarlo Angelini and Yaser Hafez
Life 2013, 3(3), 449-473; https://doi.org/10.3390/life3030449 - 30 Jul 2013
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 8441
Abstract
A series of non-proteinogenic amino acids, most of them found quite commonly in the meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites, were subjected to solid state radiolysis in vacuum to a total radiation dose of 3.2 MGy corresponding to 23% of the total dose expected [...] Read more.
A series of non-proteinogenic amino acids, most of them found quite commonly in the meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites, were subjected to solid state radiolysis in vacuum to a total radiation dose of 3.2 MGy corresponding to 23% of the total dose expected to be taken by organic molecules buried in asteroids and meteorites since the beginning of the solar system 4.6 × 109 years ago. The radiolyzed amino acids were studied by FT-IR spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and by polarimety and Optical Rotatory Dispersion (ORD). It is shown that an important fraction of each amino acid is able to “survive” the massive dose of radiation, while the enantiomeric excess is partially preserved. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that it is unsurprising to find amino acids even in enantiomeric excess in carbonaceous chondrites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planet Formation and the Rise of Life)
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Review

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383 KiB  
Review
Setting the Stage for Habitable Planets
by Guillermo Gonzalez
Life 2014, 4(1), 35-65; https://doi.org/10.3390/life4010035 - 21 Feb 2014
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 8387
Abstract
Our understanding of the processes that are relevant to the formation and maintenance of habitable planetary systems is advancing at a rapid pace, both from observation and theory. The present review focuses on recent research that bears on this topic and includes discussions [...] Read more.
Our understanding of the processes that are relevant to the formation and maintenance of habitable planetary systems is advancing at a rapid pace, both from observation and theory. The present review focuses on recent research that bears on this topic and includes discussions of processes occurring in astrophysical, geophysical and climatic contexts, as well as the temporal evolution of planetary habitability. Special attention is given to recent observations of exoplanets and their host stars and the theories proposed to explain the observed trends. Recent theories about the early evolution of the Solar System and how they relate to its habitability are also summarized. Unresolved issues requiring additional research are pointed out, and a framework is provided for estimating the number of habitable planets in the Universe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planet Formation and the Rise of Life)
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