Cluster Origin of the Triple Star HD 188753 and Its Planet

The recent discovery by M. Konacki of a "hot Jupiter" in the hierarchical triple star system HD 188753 challenges established theories of giant planet formation. If the orbital geometry of the triple has not changed since the birth of the planet, then a disk around the planetary host star would probably have been too compact and too hot for a Jovian planet to form by the core accretion model or gravitational collapse. This paradox is resolved if the star was initially either single or had a much more distant companion. It is suggested here that a close multistar dynamical encounter transformed this initial state into the observed triple, an idea that follows naturally if HD 188753 formed in a moderately dense stellar system—perhaps an open cluster—that has since dissolved. Three distinct types of encounters are investigated. The most robust scenario involves an initially single planetary host star that changes places with the outlying member of a preexisting hierarchical triple.