Related papers: A Quasi-Stationary Solution to Gliese 436b's Eccen…
Two formation scenarios have been proposed to explain the tight orbits of hot Jupiters. They could be formed in orbits with a small inclination (with respect to the stellar spin) via disk migration, or in more highly inclined orbits via…
Observations in the past decade have revealed extrasolar planets with a wide range of orbital semimajor axes and eccentricities. Based on the present understanding of planet formation via core accretion and oligarchic growth, we expect that…
Hundreds of substellar companions to solar-type stars will be discovered with the Kepler satellite. Kepler's extreme photometric precision gives access to low-amplitude stellar variability contributed by a variety of physical processes. We…
The results of the numerical investigations of the evolution of orbits of trans-Neptunian bodies at the 2 : 3 resonance with Neptune are presented. The gravitational influence of the four giant planets was taken into account. For identical…
Recent work suggests that many short-period super-Earth and sub-Neptune planets may have significant spin axis tilts ("obliquities"). When planets are locked in high-obliquity states, the tidal dissipation rate may increase by several…
We study the orbital evolution of hot Jupiters due to the excitation and damping of tidally driven $g$-modes within solar-type host stars. Linearly resonant $g$-modes (the dynamical tide) are driven to such large amplitudes in the stellar…
Aims. We aim to identify the presence of atomic and molecular species in the upper atmosphere of the warm Neptune-sized transiting planet GJ 436 b, which has a radiative equilibrium temperature of 690 K and a mass of 25.4 Earth masses.…
The observational census of trans-Neptunian objects with semi-major axes greater than ~250 AU exhibits unexpected orbital structure that is most readily attributed to gravitational perturbations induced by a yet-undetected, massive planet.…
We investigate the secular dynamics of a planetary system composed of the parent star and two massive planets in mutually inclined orbits. The dynamics are investigated in wide ranges of semi-major axes ratios (0.1-0.667), and planetary…
Among the numerous discoveries resulting from the {\it Kepler} mission are a plethora of compact planetary systems that provide deep insights into planet formation theories. The architecture of such compact systems also produces unique…
We derive octupole-level secular perturbation equations for hierarchical triple systems, using classical Hamiltonian perturbation techniques. By extending previous work done to leading (quadrupole) order to octupole level (i.e., including…
Planets in extrasolar systems tend to interact such that their orbits lie near a boundary between apsidal libration and circulation, a "separatrix", with one eccentricity periodically reaching near-zero. One explanation, applied to the…
Tidally distorted rotating stars and gaseous planets are subject to a well-known linear fluid instability -- the elliptical instability. It has been proposed that this instability might drive enough energy dissipation to solve the…
The existence of planets orbiting a central binary star system immediately raises questions regarding their formation and dynamical evolution. Recent discoveries of circumbinary planets by the Kepler space telescope has shown that some of…
The orbital period of the binary pulsar PSR J0045-7319, which is located in our neighbouring galaxy the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), appears to be decreasing on a timescale of half a million year. This timescale is more than two orders of…
A large proportion of observed planetary systems contain several planets in a compact orbital configuration, and often harbor at least one close-in object. These systems are then most likely tidally evolving. We investigate how the effects…
In this paper we describe a uniform analysis of eight transits and eleven secondary eclipses of the extrasolar planet GJ 436b obtained in the 3.6, 4.5, and 8.0 micron bands using the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope between UT…
We perform global two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of Keplerian discs with free eccentricity over thousands of orbital periods. Our aim is to determine the validity of secular theory in describing the evolution of eccentric discs,…
Most Neptune-mass planets in close-in orbits (orbital periods less than a few days) present nonzero eccentricity, typically around 0.15. This is somehow unexpected, as these planets undergo strong tidal dissipation that should circularize…
We investigate the dynamics of putative Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone (HZ) of the extrasolar planetary system OGLE-2006-BLG-109L, a close analog of the Solar system. Our work is inspired by work of Malhotra and Minton (2008).…