Related papers: How stellar activity affects the size estimates of…
Multi-wavelength transit and secondary-eclipse light-curve observations are some of the most powerful techniques to probe the thermo-chemical properties of exoplanets. Although the large planet-to-star brightness contrast and few available…
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Kepler space mission observed a large number of planetary transits showing anomalies due to starspot eclipses, with more such observations expected in the near future by the K2 mission and the…
A planetary transit produces both a photometric signal and a spectroscopic signal. Precise observations of the transit light curve reveal the planetary radius and allow a search for timing anomalies caused by satellites or additional…
We present a population study of 20 exoplanets, ranging from Neptune-like to inflated hot-Jupiter planets, observed during transit with the STIS and WFC3 instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. To obtain spectral information from the…
CoRoT, the first space-based transit search, provides ultra-high precision light curves with continuous time-sampling over periods, of up to 5 months. This allows the detection of transiting planets with relatively long periods, and the…
The stellar rotation has an essential role in modifying the structure of the star and, therefore, the way these different interplays arise. On the other hand, changes in orbits impact the star's rotation and its evolution. The evolution of…
We analyse the chromospherical activity of stars with extrasolar planets and search for a possible correlation between the equivalent width of the core of Ca II K line and orbital parameters of the planet. We found a statistically…
The properties of inhomogeneities on the surface of active stars (i.e. dark spots and bright faculae) significantly influence the determination of the parameters of an exoplanet. The chromatic effect they have on transmission spectroscopy…
The transit method, employed by MOST, \emph{Kepler}, and various ground-based surveys has enabled the characterization of extrasolar planets to unprecedented precision. These results are precise enough to begin to measure planet atmosphere…
The search for extrasolar planets is strongly motivated by the goal of characterizing how frequent habitable worlds and life may be within the Galaxy. Whilst much effort has been spent on searching for Earth-like planets, large moons may…
Future high precision photometric measurements of transiting extrasolar planets promise to tell us much about the nature of these systems. We examine how atmospheric lensing and (projected) planet oblateness/ellipticity modify transit light…
Stellar activity strongly affects and may prevent the detection of Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone of solar-type stars with radial velocity technics. Astrometry is in principle less sensitive to stellar activity because the…
We present photometry of six transits of the exoplanet XO-2b. By combining the light-curve analysis with theoretical isochrones to determine the stellar properties, we find the planetary radius to be 0.996 +0.031/-0.018 rjup and the…
Adding an independent estimate of the mean stellar density, $\rho_{\star}$, as a constraint in the analysis of stars that host transiting exoplanets can significantly improve the precision of the planet radius estimate in cases where the…
(abridged) A method for simulating light curves containing stellar micro-variability for a range of spectral types and ages, based on parameter-by-parameter scaling of a multi-component fit to the solar irradiance power spectrum (from…
We have developed a code to compute multi-colour microlensing lightcurves for extended sources, including the effects of limb darkening and photospheric star spots as a function of spot temperature, position, size and lens trajectory. Our…
Point lens microlensing events with impact parameter close to the source stellar radius allow the observer to study the surface brightness profile of the lensed source. We have examined the effect of photospheric star spots on multicolour…
Chromospherically sensitive atomic lines display different spectra in stellar active regions, spots, and the photosphere, raising the possibility that exoplanet transmission spectra are contaminated by the contrast between various portions…
The properties of a transiting planet's host star are written in its transit light curve. The light curve can reveal the stellar density and the limb darkening profile in addition to the characteristics of the planet and its orbit. For…
It is well-known that the light curve of a transiting planet contains information about the planet's orbital period and size relative to the host star. More recently, it has been demonstrated that a tight constraint on an individual…