Related papers: Discerning Exoplanet Migration Models Using Spin-O…
The discovery of giant planets orbiting close to their host stars was one of the most unexpected results of early exoplanetary science. Astronomers have since found that a significant fraction of these 'Hot Jupiters' move on orbits…
Continued observational characterization of transiting planets that reside in close proximity to their host stars has shown that a substantial fraction of such objects posses orbits that are inclined with respect to the spin axes of their…
Many recent observational studies have concluded that planetary systems commonly exist in multiple-star systems. At least ~20%, and presumably a larger fraction of the known extrasolar planetary systems are associated with one or more…
The exo-solar planet HD 80606b has a highly eccentric (e=0.93) and tight (a=0.47 AU) orbit. We study how it might arrive at such an orbit and how it has avoided being tidally circularized until now. The presence of a stellar companion to…
Understanding the diverse formation and migration pathways that shape exoplanetary systems requires characterizing both their atmospheric properties and their orbital dynamics. A key dynamical diagnostic is the projected spin-orbit angle -…
Planet-disk interaction predicts a change in the orbital elements of an embedded planet. Through linear and fully hydrodynamical studies it has been found that migration is typically directed inwards. Hence, this migration process gives…
Abridged: The discovery of "hot Jupiters" very close to their parent stars confirmed that Jovian planets migrate inward via several potential mechanisms. We present empirical constraints on planet migration halting mechanisms. We compute…
For 61 transiting hot Jupiters, the projection of the angle between the orbital plane and the stellar equator (called the spin-orbit angle) has been measured. For about half of them, a significant misalignment is detected, and retrograde…
We quantify the utility of large radial velocity surveys for constraining theoretical models of Type II migration and protoplanetary disk physics. We describe a theoretical model for the expected radial distribution of extrasolar planets…
We present a test for spin-orbit alignment for the host stars of 25 candidate planetary systems detected by the {\it Kepler} spacecraft. The inclination angle of each star's rotation axis was estimated from its rotation period, rotational…
We present an investigation of spin-orbit angles for planetary system candidates reported by Kepler. By combining the rotational period $P_s$ inferred from the flux variation due to starspots and the projected rotational velocity $V\sin…
Many exoplanetary systems containing hot Jupiters (HJs) exhibit significant misalignment between the spin axes of the host stars and the orbital angular momentum axes of the planets ("spin-orbit misalignment"). High-eccentricity migration…
One possible diagnostic of planet formation, orbital migration, and tidal evolution is the angle psi between a planet's orbital axis and the spin axis of its parent star. In general, psi cannot be measured, but for transiting planets one…
We examine the effects of dynamical evolution in clusters on planetary systems or protoplanetary disks orbiting the components of binary stars. In particular, we look for evidence that the companions of host stars of planetary systems or…
Of the 26 transiting exoplanet systems with measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect, eight have now been found to be significantly spin-orbit misaligned in the plane of the sky. Unfortunately, the RM effect only measures the…
Satellites of extrasolar planets, or exomoons, are on the frontier of detectability using current technologies and theoretical constraints should be considered in their search. In this Letter, we apply theoretical constraints of orbital…
Planets have been observed in tight binary systems with separations less than 20 AU. A likely formation scenario for such systems involves a dynamical capture, after which high relative inclinations are likely and may lead to Kozai…
The discovery of planets in close orbits around binary stars raises questions about their formation. It is believed that these planets formed in the outer regions of the disc and then migrated through planet-disc interaction to their…
Observed hot Jupiter (HJ) systems exhibit a wide range of stellar spin-orbit misalignment angles. The origin of these HJs remains unclear. This paper investigates the inward migration of giant planets due to Lidov-Kozai (LK) oscillations…
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the 2009 Feb. 2 transit of the exoplanet XO-3b. The new data show that the planetary orbital axis and stellar rotation axis are misaligned, as reported earlier by Hebrard and…