An Open Cluster Origin for Most Solar-type Binaries in the Solar Neighborhood and Implications for Primordial Planet Stability
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We present the first Gaia-calibrated estimate of the contribution of dynamically processed open clusters (OCs) to the nearby solar-type field binary population and investigate the implications for primordial planet stability. We combine Gaia DR3 observations, empirical models of cluster formation and dissolution, and direct N -body simulations to constrain the fraction of field FGK-type binaries within 1 kpc that originated in OCs over the past 5 Gyr. We find that at least ∼53% of solar-type field binaries formed in OCs with initial masses ≥200 M ⊙ , where dynamical processing becomes significant. We quantify the effects of stellar encounters and binary orbital evolution on the stability of both circumbinary and circumstellar planets by deriving empirical prescriptions for circumbinary planet destabilization as a function of binary separation and for the fractional reduction of stable circumstellar coplanar phase space. These results provide a framework for evaluating how OC dynamical evolution may influence the stability of planets in binary systems and therefore contribute to observed exoplanet demographics.
Authors: Anna C. Childs, Aaron M. Geller
Institutions: Northwestern University, University of Alabama
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
OpenAlex ID: W7214048179