Related papers: Plasma physics and planetary astrophysics
Most exoplanets with a few Earth radii are more inflated than bare-rock planets with the same mass, indicating a substantial volatile amount. Neither the origin of the volatiles nor the planet's bulk composition can be constrained from the…
Jupiter's magnetosphere is considered to be the most powerful particle accelerator in the Solar System, accelerating electrons from eV to 70 MeV and ions to GeV energies. How electromagnetic processes drive energy and particle flows,…
A review of some of the papers that discuss the relevance of the temperature structure present in H II regions and planetary nebulae is presented. Particular attention is given to the determination of the chemical abundances of these…
The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at Mbar pressures and intermediate temperatures (4000 to 10000 K) are calculated with first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. We determine the equation of state as a function of density,…
Extensive ground and space based surveys have now characterized the properties of thousands of exoplanets; their radii, masses, orbits around their host stars, and the beginnings of accurate measurements of the chemical compositions of…
JWST is revolutionizing the field of exoplanet atmospheres by delivering unprecedented spectroscopic constraints on their chemical compositions. It has provided tight constraints on the abundances of dominant carbon- and oxygen-bearing…
We suggest that accretion of planet-bound dark matter by the Jovian planets, and by hot-Jupiter exoplanets, could be a significant source of their internal heat. The anomalously low internal heat of Uranus would then be explained if the…
The era of exoplanet characterization is upon us. For a subset of exoplanets -- the transiting planets -- physical properties can be measured, including mass, radius, and atmosphere characteristics. Indeed, measuring the atmospheres of a…
Three planets with minimum masses less than 10 Earth masses orbit the star HD 40307, suggesting these planets may be rocky. However, with only radial velocity data, it is impossible to determine if these planets are rocky or gaseous. Here…
The current search for habitable planets has focused on Earth-like conditions of mass, volatile content and orbit. However, rocky planets following eccentric orbits, and drier than the Earth, may be a more common phenomenon in the Universe.…
Knowledge of the composition of material that will form planets is crucial to understand planetary diversity and the occurrence of potentially habitable planets. Ultimately, it is the chemistry in circumstellar disks that determines the…
Models of planet formation are mainly focused on the accretion and dynamical processes of the planets, neglecting their chemical composition. In this work, we calculate the condensation sequence of the different chemical elements for a…
The increasing precision of planetary mass and radius observations is bringing major questions about the structure and formation of planets--such as the nature of the radius valley and origin of super-Mercuries--within reach, demanding the…
Low-mass stars exhibit, at all stages of their evolution, the signatures of complex physical processes that require challenging modeling beyond standard stellar theory. In this review, we recall the most striking observational evidences…
Sub-Neptune planets, with sizes and masses between those of Earth and Neptune, dominate the exoplanet population. Sub-Neptunes are expected to be the most diverse family of the exoplanet population, potentially including rocky gas dwarfs,…
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It is also the lightest and as such the most quantum of the elements, in the sense that quantum tunnelling, quantum delocalisation, and zero-point motion can be important. For practical…
Many extrasolar (bound) terrestrial planets and free-floating (unbound) planets have been discovered. The existence of bound and unbound terrestrial planets with liquid water is an important question, and of particular importance is the…
The elemental compositions of exoplanets encode information about their formation environments and internal structures. While volatile ratios such as carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) are used to trace formation location, the rock-forming elements -…
Over the last decade, precise exoplanet transmission spectroscopy has revealed the atmospheres of dozens of exoplanets, driven largely by observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope. One major discovery has been the ubiquity of…
Exoplanetary atmospheric retrieval refers to the inference of atmospheric properties of an exoplanet given an observed spectrum. The atmospheric properties include the chemical compositions, temperature profiles, clouds/hazes, and energy…