Related papers: Kepler planet candidates consistent with core accr…
We report stellar parameters for late-K and M-type planet-candidate host stars announced by the Kepler Mission. We obtained medium-resolution, K-band spectra of 84 cool (Teff < 4400 K) Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) from Borucki et al.…
Statistical studies of exoplanets and the properties of their host stars have been critical to informing models of planet formation. Numerous trends have arisen in particular from the rich Kepler dataset, including that exoplanets are more…
We examine the significance of a planar arrangement in the spatial distribution of the Milky Way's globular clusters (GCs). We find that, when separated on the basis of horizontal branch morphology and metallicity, the outer-most canonical…
We present the results of our Hubble Space Telescope program and describe how our analysis methods were used to re-evaluate the habitability of some of the most interesting Kepler planet candidates. Our program observed 22 Kepler Object of…
We review results about protoplanetary disk models, protoplanet migration and formation of giant planets with migrating cores. We first model the protoplanetary nebula as an \alpha-accretion disk and present steady state calculations for…
Past studies have demonstrated that atmospheric escape by the core-powered mass-loss mechanism can explain a multitude of observations associated with the radius valley that separates the super-Earth and sub-Neptune planet populations.…
We report on the masses, sizes, and orbits of the planets orbiting 22 Kepler stars. There are 49 planet candidates around these stars, including 42 detected through transits and 7 revealed by precise Doppler measurements of the host stars.…
Continuing our initiative on advancing the calculations of planetesimal accretion in the core-accretion model, we present here the results of our recent study of the contributions of planetesimals around and beyond the orbit of Saturn. In…
Models are developed to simulate lightcurves of stars dimmed by transiting exoplanets with and without rings. These models are then applied to \textit{Kepler} photometry to search for planetary rings in a sample of 21 exoplanets, mostly hot…
Characterizing the dependence of the orbital architectures and formation environments on the eccentricity distribution of planets is vital for understanding planet formation. In this work, we perform statistical eccentricity studies of…
Core accretion is the standard scenario of planet formation, wherein planets are formed by sequential accretion of gas and solids, and is widely used to interpret exoplanet observations. However, no direct probes of the scenario have been…
We exploit high quality photometry from the EVEREST pipeline to evaluate false-positive exoplanet candidates from the K2 mission. We compare the practical capabilities of EVEREST's pixel-level decorrelation scheme to the data analysis…
Aims. We study a subset of the planetary population characterized both by HARPS and Kepler surveys. We compare the statistical properties of planets in systems with m.sin i >5-10 M_Earth and R>2 R_Earth. If we assume that the underlying…
Many Kepler multiplanet systems have planet pairs near low-order, mean-motion resonances. In addition, many Kepler multiplanet systems have planets with orbital periods less than a few days. With the exception of Kepler-42, however, there…
\Kepler\ planets around a given star have similar sizes to each other and regular orbital spacing, like "peas in a pod." Several studies have tested whether detection bias could produce this apparent pattern by resampling planet radii at…
We examine 3 analytic theories of magnetospheric accretion onto classical T Tauri stars under the assumption that the magnetic field strength does not vary appreciably from star to star. From these investigations we derive predicted…
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…
Recently, a number of planets orbiting binary stars have been discovered by the Kepler space telescope. In a few systems the planets reside close to the dynamical stability limit. Due to the difficulty of forming planets in such close…
Exomoons represent an outstanding challenge in modern astronomy, with the potential to provide rich insights into planet formation theory and habitability. In this work, we stack the phase-folded transits of 284 viable moon hosting Kepler…
The research of exoplanets has entered an era in which we characterize extrasolar planets. This has become possible with measurements of radii and luminosities. Meanwhile, radial velocity surveys discover also very low-mass planets. Uniting…