Tidal disruption of exocomets in the Beta Pictoris system
(2026) FYSK04 20261Department of Physics
Astrophysics
- Abstract
- The system around the star Beta Pictoris is often referred to as the poster child of exoplanet research. However, the planetary system contains many more interesting components inside its large protoplanetary disks. When examining the stellar spectrum, long-lasting absorption lines near the Ca II lines of the star have been observed. While these absorption lines resemble those of transiting exocomets, the duration of the absorption lines is significantly longer than the transit time of a single comet. There is instead a stream of comets. This stream would have to have originated from the same source in order to end up on the same orbit, and one possibility is that larger comets are pulled apart by tidal interactions with the star and... (More)
- The system around the star Beta Pictoris is often referred to as the poster child of exoplanet research. However, the planetary system contains many more interesting components inside its large protoplanetary disks. When examining the stellar spectrum, long-lasting absorption lines near the Ca II lines of the star have been observed. While these absorption lines resemble those of transiting exocomets, the duration of the absorption lines is significantly longer than the transit time of a single comet. There is instead a stream of comets. This stream would have to have originated from the same source in order to end up on the same orbit, and one possibility is that larger comets are pulled apart by tidal interactions with the star and planet (Tidal Disruption Events).
The aim of this project is to examine the characteristics of comet streams generated through tidal disruption with simulations using the N-body integrator REBOUND. After performing 25 simulations, totaling 3025 massless particles, 110 streams of exocomets were generated, out of which 103 were generated by the star. The coherence time of the streams consistently exceeded a year, and the transit time of an entire stream ranged from less than a month up to a year. The streams generated by the star were on highly eccentric orbits with periods below one year and periastron distance within the sublimation limit, while the streams generated by The system around the star Beta Pictoris is often referred to as the poster child of exoplanet research. However, the planetary system contains many more interesting components inside its large protoplanetary disks. When examining the stellar spectrum, long-lasting absorption lines near the Ca II lines of the star have been observed. While these absorption lines resemble those of transiting exocomets, the duration of the absorption lines is significantly longer than the transit time of a single comet. There is instead a stream of comets. This stream would have to have originated from the same source in order to end up on the same orbit, and one possibility is that larger comets are pulled apart by tidal interactions with the star and planet (Tidal Disruption Events).
The aim of this project is to examine the characteristics of comet streams generated through tidal disruption with simulations using the N-body integrator REBOUND. After performing 25 simulations, totaling 3025 massless particles, 110 streams of exocomets were generated, out of which 103 were generated by the star. The coherence time of the streams consistently exceeded a year, and the transit time of an entire stream ranged from less than a month up to a year. The streams generated by the star were on highly eccentric orbits with periods below one year and periastron distance within the sublimation limit, while the streams generated by $\beta$ pic c evolved to more closely resemble the disk population.
The findings of this project shows that tidal disruptions are a valid way to generate exocomet streams, and that streams generated by the star resemble what was expected based on observations of the system. ß pic c evolved to more closely resemble the disk population.
The findings of this project shows that tidal disruptions are a valid way to generate exocomet streams, and that streams generated by the star resemble what was expected based on observations of the system. (Less) - Popular Abstract (Swedish)
- Beta Pictoris är den näst ljusaste stjärnan i konstellationen Målaren. Trots att den är närmare 2000°C varmare och nästan dubbelt så stor som våran sol så är den betydligt yngre, när Beta Pictoris föddes ur stjärndamm vandrade däggdjur redan runt på jorden. Just därför studeras ofta solsystemet runt Beta Pictoris, och det har blivit känt för sina två Super-Jupiterplaneter och planetesimalringar. Ett ungt solsystem är ofta kaotiskt, och Beta Pictoris är inget undantag. På grund av den stora mängd planetesimaler i systemet har man kunnat observera exokometer i stjärnspektrumet, precis som för många andra solsystem.
Något som utmärker dessa spektrallinjer är att de i vissa fall fanns kvar i flera veckor, månader, till och med år. Kometer... (More) - Beta Pictoris är den näst ljusaste stjärnan i konstellationen Målaren. Trots att den är närmare 2000°C varmare och nästan dubbelt så stor som våran sol så är den betydligt yngre, när Beta Pictoris föddes ur stjärndamm vandrade däggdjur redan runt på jorden. Just därför studeras ofta solsystemet runt Beta Pictoris, och det har blivit känt för sina två Super-Jupiterplaneter och planetesimalringar. Ett ungt solsystem är ofta kaotiskt, och Beta Pictoris är inget undantag. På grund av den stora mängd planetesimaler i systemet har man kunnat observera exokometer i stjärnspektrumet, precis som för många andra solsystem.
Något som utmärker dessa spektrallinjer är att de i vissa fall fanns kvar i flera veckor, månader, till och med år. Kometer tar i vanliga fall högst några dagar på sig att passera en stjärna, vilket tyder på att det är något mer komplicerat som pågår. En teori är att dessa kometer egentligen är strömmar som består av flera, mindre kometer. För att det ska stämma måste strömmen ha samma ursprung och sedan färdas längs samma omloppsbana. En möjlig förklaring till uppkomsten av dessa strömmar är tidvattenkrafter mellan kometer och stjärnan eller planeterna. En större stenbumlingskomet hade kunnat komma så pass nära planeterna eller stjärnan att tidvattenkrafterna fått kometen att dras sönder i flera bitar, som sedan fortsätter längs samma omloppsbana.
Detta projekt kommer undersöka exokometströmmar som orsakats av tidvatteninteraktioner (Tidal Disrpution Events, TDE) mellan stjärnan Beta Pictoris eller dess planeter och kometer i den inre planetesimaldisken, och fastställa parametrar som koherens, banelement, och livstid, för att bättre förstå sig på de långvariga spektrallinjerna. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9239671
- author
- Back, Sofia LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- FYSK04 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Beta Pictoris, exocomets
- report number
- 2026-EXA254
- other publication id
- 2026-EXA254
- language
- English
- id
- 9239671
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-17 14:40:24
- date last changed
- 2026-06-17 14:40:24
@misc{9239671,
abstract = {{The system around the star Beta Pictoris is often referred to as the poster child of exoplanet research. However, the planetary system contains many more interesting components inside its large protoplanetary disks. When examining the stellar spectrum, long-lasting absorption lines near the Ca II lines of the star have been observed. While these absorption lines resemble those of transiting exocomets, the duration of the absorption lines is significantly longer than the transit time of a single comet. There is instead a stream of comets. This stream would have to have originated from the same source in order to end up on the same orbit, and one possibility is that larger comets are pulled apart by tidal interactions with the star and planet (Tidal Disruption Events).
The aim of this project is to examine the characteristics of comet streams generated through tidal disruption with simulations using the N-body integrator REBOUND. After performing 25 simulations, totaling 3025 massless particles, 110 streams of exocomets were generated, out of which 103 were generated by the star. The coherence time of the streams consistently exceeded a year, and the transit time of an entire stream ranged from less than a month up to a year. The streams generated by the star were on highly eccentric orbits with periods below one year and periastron distance within the sublimation limit, while the streams generated by The system around the star Beta Pictoris is often referred to as the poster child of exoplanet research. However, the planetary system contains many more interesting components inside its large protoplanetary disks. When examining the stellar spectrum, long-lasting absorption lines near the Ca II lines of the star have been observed. While these absorption lines resemble those of transiting exocomets, the duration of the absorption lines is significantly longer than the transit time of a single comet. There is instead a stream of comets. This stream would have to have originated from the same source in order to end up on the same orbit, and one possibility is that larger comets are pulled apart by tidal interactions with the star and planet (Tidal Disruption Events).
The aim of this project is to examine the characteristics of comet streams generated through tidal disruption with simulations using the N-body integrator REBOUND. After performing 25 simulations, totaling 3025 massless particles, 110 streams of exocomets were generated, out of which 103 were generated by the star. The coherence time of the streams consistently exceeded a year, and the transit time of an entire stream ranged from less than a month up to a year. The streams generated by the star were on highly eccentric orbits with periods below one year and periastron distance within the sublimation limit, while the streams generated by $\beta$ pic c evolved to more closely resemble the disk population.
The findings of this project shows that tidal disruptions are a valid way to generate exocomet streams, and that streams generated by the star resemble what was expected based on observations of the system. ß pic c evolved to more closely resemble the disk population.
The findings of this project shows that tidal disruptions are a valid way to generate exocomet streams, and that streams generated by the star resemble what was expected based on observations of the system.}},
author = {{Back, Sofia}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Tidal disruption of exocomets in the Beta Pictoris system}},
year = {{2026}},
}