Related papers: Planetary Rings
Dynamical interactions between planets and debris discs can excite the orbits of embedded planetesimals to such a degree that a collisional cascade is triggered, generating detectable amounts of dust. Millimetre wavelength observations are…
The majority of star formation results in binaries or higher multiple systems, and planets in such systems are constrained to a limited range of orbital parameters in order to remain stable against perturbations from stellar companions.…
The Einstein rings and proper motions of nearby stars tend to be large. Thus, every year some foreground stars within a few hundred parsecs of Earth induce gravitational lensing events in background stars. In some of these cases, the events…
We explore the dynamical evolution of a planet embedded in a disk surrounding a star part of a binary system where the orbital plane of the binary is significantly tilted respect to the initial disk plane. Our aim is to test whether the…
Infrared studies have revealed debris likely related to planet formation in orbit around ~30% of youthful, intermediate mass, main sequence stars. We present evidence, based on atmospheric pollution by various elements heavier than helium,…
The stars that populate the solar neighbourhood were formed in stellar clusters. Through N-body simulations of these clusters, we measure the rate of close encounters between stars. By monitoring the interaction histories of each star, we…
This paper examines the onset of the viscous overstability in dense particulate rings. First, we formulate a dense gas kinetic theory that is applicable to the Saturnian system. Our model is essentially that of Araki and Tremaine (1986),…
Until now, rings have been detected in the Solar System exclusively around the four giant planets. Here we report the discovery of the first minor-body ring system around the Centaur object (10199) Chariklo, a body with equivalent radius…
A planetary system consists of a host star and one or more planets, arranged into a particular configuration. Here, we consider what information belongs to the configuration, or ordering, of 4286 Kepler planets in their 3277 planetary…
The distinctive set of Saturnian small satellites, Aegaeon, Methone, Anthe, and Pallene, constitutes an excellent laboratory to understand the evolution of systems immersed in co-orbital dusty rings/arcs, subjected to perturbations from…
The discovery of over 400 extrasolar planets allows us to statistically test our understanding of formation and dynamics of planetary systems via numerical simulations. Traditional N-body simulations of multiple-planet systems without gas…
The search for extrasolar Earth-like planets is underway. Over 100 extrasolar giant planets are known to orbit nearby sun-like stars, including several in multiple-planet systems. These planetary systems are stepping stones for the search…
Flattened, rotating disks of cool dust and gas extending for tens to hundreds of AU are found around almost all low mass stars shortly after their birth. These disks generally persist for several Myr, during which time some material…
Discs of gas and dust around Myr-old stars are a by-product of the star formation process and provide the raw material to form planets. Hence, their evolution and dispersal directly impact what type of planets can form and affect the final…
Rings and gaps are ubiquitous in protoplanetary disks. Larger dust grains will concentrate in gaseous rings more compactly due to stronger aerodynamic drag. However, the effects of dust concentration on the ring's thermal structure have not…
The dust measured in debris disks traces the position of planetesimal belts. In our Solar System, we are also able to measure the largest planetesimals directly and can extrapolate down to make an estimate of the dust. The zodiacal dust…
The $\mu$ and $\nu$ rings of Uranus form a secondary ring-moon system with the satellites Puck, Mab,Portia, and Rosalind. These rings are tenuous and dominated by micrometric particles, which can be strongly disturbed by the solar radiation…
It is known that the discs are detected for some of the extra-solar planetary systems. It is also likely that there was a disc mixing with planets and small bodies while our Solar System was forming. From our recent results, we conclude…
The Lagrange planetary equations are used to study to secular evolution of a small, eccentric satellite that orbits within a narrow gap in a broad, self-gravitating planetary ring. These equations show that the satellite's secular…
Many of the multi-planet systems discovered to date have been notable for their compactness, with neighbouring planets closer together than any in the Solar System. Interestingly, planet-hosting stars have a wide range of ages, suggesting…