AAS 196th Meeting, June 2000
Session 11. Small Bodies in the Solar System and Beyond
Oral, Monday, June 5, 2000, 10:00-11:30am, Lilac Ballroom

[Previous] | [Session 11] | [Next]


[11.05] A-type Stars to Study an Effect of Enviroment on Planet Formation

T.V. Ruzmaikina (LPL, U. Arizona)

Main sequence stars of a spectral class A occupy an imtermediate position between low-mass stars, with a near surface convective zone and solar-type magnetic activity, and massive stars. A-type stars are just 2 to 3 times more massive and about 10 times more luminous than the Sun. Other properties, such as rotational velocities, intensities of the magnetic field and chemical composition vary dramatically between different stars of this class. This paper suggests that the diversity of some characteristics makes A-type stars an excelent laboratory to study an effect of environment on properties of planetary systems. Fast rotation of many A-type stars or occilations of those posess intense magnetic field make the problem of the search for low-mass companion more chalenging than the search around solar type stars, but the presence of Jupiter-mass and more massive planets and brown dwarfs can be sensed. Statistical data about these planetary systems will include in the understanding what factors determine the location of inner planets, how universal is the correlation between presence of planets in stellar vicinity and an enrichment of stellar photosphere by heavy elements, if stellar magnetosphere plays a role in the evolution of inner regions of protoplanetary disks and planet formation in a stellar vicinity.


[Previous] | [Session 11] | [Next]