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Binary planetesimals and their role in planet formation

One of the main evolutionary stages of planet formation is the dynamical evolution of planetesimal disks. These disks are thought to evolve through gravitational encounters and physical collisions between single planetesimals. In recent years, many binary planetesimals have been observed in the Solar system, indicating that the binarity of planetesimals is high. However, current studies of planetesimal disks formation and evolution do not account for the role of binaries. Here we point out that gravitational encounters of binary planetesimals can have an important role in the evolution of planetesimal disks. Binary planetesimals catalyze close encounters between planetesimals, and can strongly enhance their collision rate. Binaries may also serve as additional heating source of the planetesimal disk, through the exchange of the binaries gravitational potential energy into the kinetic energy of planetesimals in the disk.