Related papers: Solar system constraints on a Rindler-type extra-a…
We reexamine non-Einsteinian effects observable in the orbital motion of low-orbit artificial Earth satellites. The motivations for doing so are twofold: (i) recent theoretical studies suggest that the correct theory of gravity might…
A transiting extrasolar planet sequentially blocks off the light coming from the different parts of the disk of the host star in a time dependent manner. Due to the spin of the star, this produces an asymmetric distortion in the line…
A decreasing gravitational constant, G, coupled with angular momentum conservation is expected to increrase a planetary semimajor axis, a, as \dot a/a=-\dot G/G. Analysis of lunar laser ranging data strongly limits such temporal variations…
Many physically motivated extensions to general relativity (GR) predict significant deviations in the properties of spacetime surrounding massive neutron stars. We report the measurement of a 2.01 +/- 0.04 solar mass pulsar in a 2.46-hr…
Historically, the Michelson-Morley experiment has played a crucial role for abandoning the idea of a preferred reference frame, the ether, and for replacing Lorentzian Relativity with Einstein's Special Relativity. However, our re-analysis…
Our previous analyses of radio Doppler and ranging data from distant spacecraft in the solar system indicated that an apparent anomalous acceleration is acting on Pioneer 10 and 11, with a magnitude a_P ~ 8 x 10^{-8} cm/s^2, directed…
Solar contamination, due to moonlight and atmospheric scattering of sunlight, can cause systematic errors in stellar radial velocity (RV) measurements that significantly detract from the ~10cm/s sensitivity required for the detection and…
In dark energy models where a scalar field $\phi$ is coupled to the Ricci scalar $R$ of the form $e^{-2Q (\phi-\phi_0)/M_{\rm pl}}R$, where $Q$ is a coupling constant, $\phi_0$ is today's value of $\phi$, and $M_{\rm pl}$ is the reduced…
A wealth of Earth-sized exoplanets will be discovered in the coming years, proving a large pool of candidates from which the targets for the search for life beyond the Solar system will be chosen. The target selection process will require…
Duration and period of transits in extrasolar planetary systems can exhibit long-term variations for a variety of reasons. Here we investigate how systemic proper motion, which steadily re-orients planetary orbit with respect to our line of…
A measurement by microlensing of the planetary mass function of planets with masses ranging from 5M_E to 10M_J and orbital radii from 0.5 to 10 AU was reported recently. A strategy for extending the mass range down to (1-3)M_E is proposed…
A reasonable basis for future astronomical investigations of exoplanets lies in our best knowledge of the planets and satellites in the Solar System. Solar System bodies exhibit a wide variety of surface environments, even including…
We numerically work out the impact of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect on the Earth-Mercury range caused by the gravitomagnetic field of the rotating Sun. The peak-to peak nominal amplitude of the resulting time-varying signal…
ASTRODynamical Space Test of Relativity using Optical Devices I (ASTROD I) mainly aims at testing relativistic gravity and measuring the solar-system parameters with high precision, by carrying out laser ranging between a spacecraft in a…
Stellar variability impacts radial velocities at various timescales and therefore the detectability of exoplanets and the mass determination based on this technique. It is necessary to implement systematic studies, to delineate the current…
We examine the induced spin velocity in case of the Earth. Spin velocity is induced from the conversion of a constrained spatial rotation into a spatial displacement. Its effects on Earth as a celestial body are consequences of its…
Using Gauss' averaged equations, we compute the secular relativistic effects generated by the Sun on the argument of the perihelion and the mean anomaly of an orbit. Then we test different alternative simpler models that have been proposed…
We show that Solar System tests can place very strong constraints on K-mouflage models of gravity, which are coupled scalar field models with nontrivial kinetic terms that screen the fifth force in regions of large gravitational…
Disformal theories of gravity are scalar-tensor theories where the scalar couples derivatively to matter via the Jordan frame metric. These models have recently attracted interest in the cosmological context since they admit accelerating…
The radial acceleration relation (RAR) of late-type galaxies relates their dynamical acceleration, $g_\text{obs}$, to that sourced by baryons alone, $g_\text{bar}$, across their rotation curves. Literature fits to the RAR have fixed the…