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Since 1995, more than 500 exoplanets have been detected using different techniques, of which 11 were detected with gravitational microlensing. Most of these are gravitationally bound to their host stars. There is some evidence of…
We report infrared photometry of the extrasolar planet HD 209458b during the time of secondary eclipse (planet passing behind the star). Observations were acquired during two secondary eclipses at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF)…
Impacts from icy and rocky bodies have helped shape the composition of solar system objects, for example the Earth-Moon system, or the recent impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. It is likely that such impacts also shape the…
Meteor showers on the Earth occur at well known times, and are associated with the decay of comets or other minor bodies whose orbital paths pass close to the Earth's trajectory. On the surface, determining the closest proximity of two…
In the late stages of accretion leading up to the formation of planetesimals, particles grew to pebbles the size of 1-mm to tens of cm. That is the same size range that dominates the present-day comet mass loss. Meteoroids that size cause…
A key outstanding question in star and planet formation is how far the initial mass function of stars and sub-stellar objects extends, and whether or not there is a cut-off at the very lowest masses. Isolated objects in the planetary-mass…
Knowledge of Jupiter's deep interior would provide unique constraints on the formation of the Solar System. Measurement of its core mass and global composition would shed light on whether the planet formed by accretion or by direct…
It is challenging to measure the starlight reflected from exoplanets because of the extreme contrast with their host stars. For hot Jupiters, this contrast is in the range of $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-4}$, depending on their albedo, radius and…
We suggest that the collision of a small solid body with a pulsar can lead to an observable glitch/anti-glitch. The glitch amplitude depends on the mass of the small body and the impact parameter as well. In the collision, a considerable…
We present the analysis of the atmospheric trajectory and orbital data of four bright bolides observed over Spain, one of which is a potential meteorite dropping event. Their absolute magnitude ranges from -10 to -11. Two of these are of…
We have run high-resolution, three-dimensional, hydrodynamic simulations of the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into the atmosphere of Jupiter. We find that the energy deposition profile is largely similar to the previous two-dimensional…
Asteroid collisions are one of the main processes responsible for the evolution of bodies in the main belt. Using observations of the Dimorphos impact by the DART spacecraft, we estimate how asteroid collisions in the main belt may look in…
Events which meet certain criteria from star tracker images onboard the Juno spacecraft have been proposed to be due to interplanetary dust particle impacts on its solar arrays. These events have been suggested to be caused by particles…
We investigate the distribution of encounter velocities and impact angles describing collisions in the habitable zone of the early planetary system. Here we present a catalogue of collision characteristics for a particular mass ratio of the…
Since 2008 we have run an observational program to accurately measure the characteristics of known exoplanet systems hosting close-in transiting giant planets, i.e. hot Jupiters. Our study is based on high-quality photometric follow-up…
We report on dust measurements obtained during the seventh orbit of the Galileo spacecraft about Jupiter. %which had a close flyby at Ganymede. The most prominent features observed are highly time variable dust streams recorded throughout…
We explain the emergence and stability of the most important jets and vortices, in the highly turbulent Jupiter's atmosphere, by a statistical mechanics of the potential vorticity mixing. Using the Quasi-Geostrophic 1-1/2 layer, with…
The detection of water molecules within the atmosphere of Jupiter, first by the Galileo Atmospheric Probe, and later by the Juno spacecraft, has given rise to the question of whether those molecules are sourced endogenously or exogenously.…
When transiting their host stars, hot Jupiters absorb about 10% of the light in the wings of the stellar Lyman-alpha emission line. The absorption occurs at wavelengths Doppler-shifted from line center by +/- 100 km/s - larger than the…
We investigated the probability that an inelastic collision of planetesimals within the Hill sphere of the Jovian planets could explain the presence and orbits of observed irregular satellites. Capture of satellites via this mechanism is…