Extended transiting discs and rings around planets and brown dwarfs: theoretical constraints
Open accessAbstract
Newly formed planets (or brown dwarfs) may possess discs or rings which occupy an appreciable fraction of the planet's Hill sphere and extend beyond the Laplace radius, where the tidal torque from the host star dominates over the torque from the oblate planet. Such a disc/ring can exhibit unique, detectable transit signatures, provided that the disc/ring is significantly misaligned with the orbital plane of the planet. There exists tentative evidence for an extended ring system around the young K5 star 1 SWASP J140747−354542. We present a general theoretical study of the inclination (warp) profile of circumplanetary discs under the combined influences of the tidal torque from the central star, the torque from the oblate planet, and the self-gravity of the disc. We calculate the equilibrium warp profile (‘generalized Laplace surface’) and investigate the condition for coherent precession of the disc. We find that to maintain a non-negligible misalignment between the extended outer disc and the planet's orbital plane, and to ensure coherent disc precession, the disc surface density must be sufficiently large so that the self-gravity torque overcomes the tidal torque from the central star. Our analysis and quantitative results can be used to constrain the parameters of transiting circumplanetary discs which may be detected in the future.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
For the proposed rings around J1407 b to show detectable transit signatures, they must be significantly misaligned with respect to the orbital plane of J1407 b.
“For these rings to show detectable transit signatures, they must be significantly misaligned with respect to the orbital plane of J1407 b (Zanazzi & Lai 2017).”
From A search for transiting companions in the J1407 (V1400 Cen) system (2021) · cites this paper as Zanazzi & Lai 2017
Smaller discs are more likely to be stable because the stabilising influence of the anchor body is stronger for smaller discs and thus dominates over the disturbing influence of the host star and other gravitational interactions.
“The arguments here are made because smaller discs are more likely to be stable as the stabilising influence of the anchor body is stronger for smaller discs and thus dominates over the disturbing influence of the host star and other gravitational interactions (Zanazzi & Lai 2017).”
From Beyond Circular Eclipsers (BeyonCE) light curve modelling (2024) · cites this paper as Zanazzi & Lai 2017
Cites
Murray, C. D., & Dermott, S. F. (2000) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139174817 · Cited by 2,956 · see citing works
Hubble Space TelescopeTime‐Series Photometry of the Transiting Planet of HD 209458
Brown, T. M., Charbonneau, D., Gilliland, R. L., Noyes, R. W., & Burrows, A. S. (2001) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/320580 · Cited by 593 · see citing works
Bate, M. R. (2008) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14106.x · Cited by 426 · see citing works
Chaotic star formation and the alignment of stellar rotation with disc and planetary orbital axes
Bate, M. R., Lodato, G., & Pringle, J. E. (2010) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15773.x · Cited by 344 · see citing works
A common mass scaling for satellite systems of gaseous planets
Canup, R., & Ward, W. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature04860 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
The time-dependence of non-planar accretion discs
Papaloizou, J. C. B., & Pringle, J. E. (1983) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/202.4.1181 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Bate, M. R. (2012) · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Larwood, J. D., Nelson, R. P., Papaloizou, J. C. B., & Terquem, C. (1996) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/282.2.597 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
The non-linear fluid dynamics of a warped accretion disc
Ogilvie, G. I. (1999) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02340.x · Cited by 212 · see citing works
0n the dynamics of warped accretion disks
Papaloizou, J. C. B., & Lin, D. N. C. (1995) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/175127 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
SATELLITE DYNAMICS ON THE LAPLACE SURFACE
Tremaine, S. D., Touma, J., & Namouni, F. (2009) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-6256/137/3/3706 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
On the Tilting of Protostellar Disks by Resonant Tidal Effects
Lubow, S. H., & Ogilvie, G. I. (2000) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/309101 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Ayliffe, B. A., & Bate, M. R. (2009) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15002.x · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Tilting Saturn. I. Analytic Model
Ward, W. R., & Hamilton, D. P. (2004) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1086/424533 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Mamajek, E. E., Quillen, A. C., Pecaut, M. J., Moolekamp, F., Scott, E. L., Kenworthy, M. A., Cameron, A. C., & Parley, N. R. (2012) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-6256/143/3/72 · Cited by 140 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Mamajek et al. (2012) discovered that the light curve of a young (∼ 16 Myr) K5 star 1 SWASP J140747-354542 (hereafter J1407) exhibited a complex series of eclipses that lasted 56 days around the month of April 2007.”
BackgroundInfluentialTidal truncation of circumplanetary discs
Martin, R. G., & Lubow, S. H. (2011) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18228.x · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Transit Detectability of Ring Systems around Extrasolar Giant Planets
Barnes, J. W., & Fortney, J. J. (2004) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/425067 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
MODELING GIANT EXTRASOLAR RING SYSTEMS IN ECLIPSE AND THE CASE OF J1407B: SCULPTING BY EXOMOONS?
Kenworthy, M. A., & Mamajek, E. E. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/800/2/126 · Cited by 123 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…in the photometric data for the inferred ring system around J1407b implies that the disk/ring system is quite thin, with a ratio of the scaleheight to radius of order H/r ∼ 10−3 (van Werkhoven et al. 2014), with significant gaps in the disk (Mamajek et al. 2012; Kenworthy & Mamajek 2015).”
BackgroundDo Proto‐jovian Planets Drive Outflows?
Quillen, A. C., & Trilling, D. E. (1998) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/306421 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
The non-linear fluid dynamics of a warped accretion discPreprint
Ogilvie, G. I. (1998) · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Gauss’s method for secular dynamics, softened
Touma, J. R., Tremaine, S., & Kazandjian, M. V. (2009) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14409.x · Cited by 92 · see citing works
On the origin of the obliquities of the outer planets
Tremaine, S. D. (1991) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/0019-1035(91)90089-c · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Tearing up a misaligned accretion disc with a binary companion
Doğan, S., Nixon, C. J., King, A. R., & Price, D. J. (2015) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stv347 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Tilting Saturn. II. Numerical Model
Hamilton, D. P., & Ward, W. R. (2004) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1086/424534 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
PREDICTING PHOTOMETRIC AND SPECTROSCOPIC SIGNATURES OF RINGS AROUND TRANSITING EXTRASOLAR PLANETS
Ohta, Y., Taruya, A., & Suto, Y. (2009) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/690/1/1 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
A NOVEL METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING EXOPLANETARY RINGS
Zuluaga, J. I., Kipping, D., Sucerquia, M., & Alvarado-Montes, J. A. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/803/1/l14 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE OBLATENESS OF AN EXOPLANET
Carter, J. A., & Winn, J. N. (2010) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/709/2/1219 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Dynamics of warped accretion discs
Tremaine, S. D., & Davis, S. W. (2014) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stu663 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
The oscillatory shape of the stationary twisted disc around a Kerr black hole
Ivanov, P. B., & Illarionov, A. F. (1997) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/285.2.394 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
TILTING JUPITER (A BIT) AND SATURN (A LOT) DURING PLANETARY MIGRATION
Vokrouhlický, D., & Nesvorný, D. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/806/1/143 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Tokuda, K., Onishi, T., Saigo, K., Kawamura, A., Fukui, Y., Matsumoto, T., Inutsuka, S., Machida, M. N., Tomida, K., & Tachihara, K. (2014) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/789/1/l4 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
TRANSIT MODEL OF PLANETS WITH MOON AND RING SYSTEMS
Tusnski, L. R. M., & Valio, A. (2011) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/743/1/97 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
CONSTRAINING THE OBLATENESS OFKEPLERPLANETS
Zhu, W., Huang, C. X., Zhou, G., & Lin, D. N. C. (2014) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/796/1/67 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
The random component of planetary rotation
Lissauer, J. J., & Safronov, V. S. (1991) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/0019-1035(91)90213-d · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Transit Detectability of Ring Systems Around Extrasolar Giant Planets
Barnes, J. W., & Fortney, J. J. (2004) · Cited by 57 · see citing works
WARM SATURNS: ON THE NATURE OF RINGS AROUND EXTRASOLAR PLANETS THAT RESIDE INSIDE THE ICE LINE
Schlichting, H. E., & Chang, P. (2011) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/734/2/117 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using high resolution spectroscopy: the case of 51 Pegasi b
Santos, N. C., Martins, J. H. C., Boué, G., Correia, A. C. M., Oshagh, M., Figueira, P., Santerne, A., Sousa, S. G., Melo, C., Montalto, M., et al. (2015) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526673 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Predicting Photometric and Spectroscopic Signatures of Rings around Transiting Extrasolar PlanetsPreprint
Ohta, Y., Taruya, A., & Suto, Y. (2006) · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-gravitating polar rings in axisymmetric and triaxial galaxy potentials
Arnaboldi, M., & Sparke, L. S. (1994) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1086/116909 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Orbital inclination of Iapetus and the rotation of the Laplacian plane
Ward, W. R. (1981) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/0019-1035(81)90079-8 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Mass and period limits on the ringed companion transiting the young star J1407
Kenworthy, M. A., Lacour, S., Kraus, A., Triaud, A. H. M. J., Mamajek, E. E., Scott, E. L., Ségransan, D., Ireland, M., Hambsch, F.-J., Reichart, D. E., et al. (2015) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stu2067 · Cited by 36 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…evidence for the circumplanetary disk/ring system around the young K5 star 1 SWASP J140747-354542 (Mamajek et al. 2012; van Werkhoven et al. 2014; Kenworthy et al. 2015; Kenworthy & Mamajek 2015), we have presented a general theoretical study of the inclination (warp) profile of extended disks…”
BackgroundInfluentialA SEARCH FOR RINGED EXOPLANETS USINGKEPLERPHOTOMETRY
Heising, M. Z., Marcy, G. W., & Schlichting, H. E. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/814/1/81 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Self-gravitating warped discs around supermassive black holes
Ulubay-Siddiki, A., Gerhard, O., & Arnaboldi, M. (2009) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15089.x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Analysis of 1SWASP J140747.93−394542.6 eclipse fine-structure: hints of exomoons
van Werkhoven, T. I. M., Kenworthy, M. A., & Mamajek, E. E. (2014) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stu725 · Cited by 29 · cited 5× · see citing works
“…in the photometric data for the inferred ring system around J1407b implies that the disk/ring system is quite thin, with a ratio of the scaleheight to radius of order H/r ∼ 10−3 (van Werkhoven et al. 2014), with significant gaps in the disk (Mamajek et al. 2012; Kenworthy & Mamajek 2015).”
BackgroundInfluentialKuijken, K. H. (1991) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/170295 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using high resolution spectroscopy: the case of 51 Pegasi b
Santos, N. C., Martins, J. H. C., Boué, G., Correia, A. C. M., Oshagh, M., Figueira, P., Santerne, A., Sousa, S. G., Melo, C., Montalto, M., et al. (2015) · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201526673/pdf · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Stability of rings around a triaxial primary
Lehébel, A., & Tiscareno, M. S. (2015) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425102 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Stability of rings around a triaxial primary
Lehébel, A., & Tiscareno, M. S. (2015) · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425102/pdf · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
THE ORBIT AND TRANSIT PROSPECTS FOR β PICTORIS b CONSTRAINED WITH ONE MILLIARCSECOND ASTROMETRY
Wang, J., Graham, Jr., Pueyo, L. A., Kalas, P., Millar-Blanchaer, M., Ruffio, J.-B., Rosa, R., Ammons, S., Arriaga, P., Bailey, V. P., et al. (2016) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Zanazzi, J. J., & Lai, D. (2018) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1075 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citationGrishin, E., Lai, D., & Perets, H. B. (2017) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3005 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationConstraints on the size and dynamics of the J1407b ring system
Rieder, S., & Kenworthy, M. A. (2016) · Astronomy & Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629567 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
bRing: An observatory dedicated to monitoring the β Pictoris b Hill sphere transit
Stuik, R., Bailey, J. I., Dorval, P., Talens, G. J., Laginja, I., Mellon, S. N., Lomberg, B. B. D., Crawford, S. M., Ireland, M., Mamajek, E. E., et al. (2017) · Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201731679 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Constraining the circumbinary disc tilt in the KH 15D system
Poon, M., Zanazzi, J. J., & Zhu, W. (2021) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stab575 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationThe case of HD 106906 debris disc: a binary’s revenge
Farhat, M. A., Sefilian, A. A., & Touma, J. (2023) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stad316 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The Dynamical History of HIP-41378 f—Oblique Exorings Masquerading as a Puffy Planet
Lu, T., Li, G., Cassese, B., & Lin, D. N. C. (2025) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ada4b2 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Mentel, R. T., Kenworthy, M. A., Cameron, D. A., Scott, E. L., Mellon, S. N., Hudec, R., Birkby, J. L., Mamajek, E. E., Schrimpf, A., Reichart, D. E., et al. (2018) · Astronomy & Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834004 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“The coplanarity of a giant ring system with a significant obliquity was examined in Zanazzi & Lai (2017), and shown that even for circular orbits, it is impossible to keep ring systems aligned with A157, page 6 of 7 the Laplacian plane of the planet – at a large enough radius, the obliquity of the…”
BackgroundThe Structure and Stability of Extended, Inclined Circumplanetary Disc or Ring Systems
Speedie, J., & Zanazzi, J. J. (2020) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/staa2068 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationFarhat, M. A., & Touma, J. (2021) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2490 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Sweeping secular resonances and giant planet inclinations in transition discs
Zanazzi, J. J., & Chiang, E. (2023) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stad3066 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationALMA and NACO observations towards the young exoring transit system J1407 (V1400 Cen)
Kenworthy, M. A., Klaassen, P. D., Min, M., van der Marel, N., Bohn, A. J., Kama, M., Triaud, A., Hales, A., Monkiewicz, J., Scott, E., et al. (2020) · Astronomy & Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936141 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“…strongly ruled out with these studies and the diameter of the ring system model, along with the detailed smallscale structure deduced from nightly flux variations, makes it very challenging to explain the apparent stability and coherence of the rings (Zanazzi & Lai 2017; Rieder & Kenworthy 2016).”
BackgroundASASSN-24fw: Candidate Gas-rich Circumsecondary Disk Occultation of a Main-sequence Star
Zakamska, N. L., Pallathadka, G. A., Bizyaev, D., Merc, J., Owen, J. E., Reggiani, H., Schlaufman, K. C., Bąkowska, K., Bednarz, S., Bernacki, K., et al. (2026) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ae1fd9 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
A search for transiting companions in the J1407 (V1400 Cen) system
Barmentloo, S., Dik, C., Kenworthy, M. A., Mamajek, E. E., Hambsch, F.-J., Reichart, D. E., Rodriguez, J. E., & van Dam, D. M. (2021) · Astronomy & Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140768 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Beyond Circular Eclipsers (BeyonCE) light curve modelling
van Dam, D. M., & Kenworthy, M. A. (2024) · Astronomy & Astrophysics · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245620 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Special Cases: Moons, Rings, Comets, and Trojans
Cabrera, J., Jiménez, M. F., Muñoz, A. G., & Schneider, J. L. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_158-1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Special Cases: Moons, Rings, Comets, and Trojans
Cabrera, J., Jiménez, M. F., Munoz, A. G., & Schneider, J. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-55333-7_158
A search for transiting companions in the J1407 (V1400 Cen) system
Barmentloo, S., Dik, C., Kenworthy, M. A., Mamajek, E. E., Hambsch, F.-J., Reichart, D. E., Rodriguez, J. E., & van Dam, D. M. (2021) · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140768/pdf · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zanazzi, J. J., & Lai, D.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zanazzi, J. J.
- Lai, Dong
- Venue
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016-10-13
- Volume
- 464
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 3945-3954
- ISSN
- 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2966
- OpenAlex
- W2385212625
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (AST-1211061)
- National Aerospace and Space Administration (NASA) (NNX14AG94G, NNX14AP31G)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Keywords
- circumplanetary discs, disk warping, tidal torque, disk precession, young planets, brown dwarfs, Hill sphere
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
