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M. Shara, J. Hurley (American Museum of Natural History)
The Sun must have been born in a low star density environment for its outermost planets to have survived with nearly circular orbits still intact. But what happens to solar systems in open and globular clusters? Why do Gilliland et al find zero Jupiters in 47 Tuc with HST? We have run GRAPE6 Nbody simulations of 2K and 20K star clusters with planetary systems composed of Saturn, Jupiter and the Earth. The results aren't pretty. Cannibalism, ejection, drifting apart and increasingly eccentric behaviour all play a role in the destruction of planetary families in star clusters.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.