Stability Analysis of the Planetary System Orbiting υ Andromedae. II. Simulations Using New Lick Observatory Fits

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We present results of long-term numerical orbital integrations designed to test the stability of the three-planet system orbiting υ Andromedae and short-term integrations to test whether mutual perturbations among the planets can be used to determine planetary masses. Our initial conditions are based on recent fits to the radial velocity data obtained by the planet search group at Lick Observatory. The new fits result in significantly more stable systems than did the initially announced planetary parameters. Our integrations using the 2000 February parameters show that if the system is nearly planar, then it is stable for at least 100 Myr for mf ≡ 1/sin i ≤ 4. In some stable systems, the eccentricity of the inner planet experiences large oscillations. The relative periastra of the outer two planets' orbits librate about 0° in most of the stable systems; if future observations imply that the periastron longitudes of these planets are very closely aligned at the present epoch, dynamical simulations may provide precise estimates for the masses and orbital inclinations of these two planets.