Related papers: Can habitable planets form in clustered environmen…
The consistency of planet formation models suffers from the disconnection between the regime of small and large bodies. This is primarily caused by so-called growth barriers: the direct growth of larger bodies is halted at centimetre-sized…
We have searched a sample of 151 young, energetic pulsars for periodic variation in pulse time-of-arrival arising from the influence of planetary companions. We are sensitive to objects with masses two orders of magnitude lower than those…
Only star clusters that are sufficiently compact and massive survive largely unharmed beyond 10 Myr. However, their compactness means a high stellar density which can lead to strong gravitational interactions between the stars. As young…
At present, because of observational selection effects, we know of no exoplanetary systems with any planetary masses close to that of the Earth. We have therefore used computer models to see whether such planets could be dynamically stable…
Most stars form in a cluster environment. These stars are initially surrounded by discs from which potentially planetary systems form. Of all cluster environments starburst clusters are probably the most hostile for planetary systems in our…
Understanding the concept of habitability is related to an evolutionary knowledge of the particular planet-in-question. Additional indications so-called "systemic aspects" of the planetary system as a whole governs a particular planet's…
Most stars are born in dense stellar environments where the formation and early evolution of planetary systems may be significantly perturbed by encounters with neighbouring stars. To investigate on the fate of circumstellar gas disks and…
Recent radial velocity observations have indicated that Jovian-type planets can exist in moderately close binary star systems. Numerical simulations of the dynamical stability of terrestrial-class planets in such environments have shown…
Theoretical formation models and exoplanet detection surveys indicate that systems with multiple giant planets are common. We investigate how multiple super-thermal mass planets embedded in a circumstellar disk shape the dust distribution…
We analyze the effect of companion stars on the bulk density of 29 planets orbiting 15 stars in the Kepler field. These stars have at least one stellar companion within 2", and the planets have measured masses and radii, allowing an…
The prospects for the habitability of M-dwarf planets have long been debated, due to key differences between the unique stellar and planetary environments around these low-mass stars, as compared to hotter, more luminous Sun-like stars.…
In star clusters, close stellar encounters can strongly impact the architecture of a planetary system or even destroy it. We present a systematic study on the effects of stellar flybys on two-planet systems. When such a system experiences…
We attempt to determine the dominant processes acting on star-forming disk galaxies as a result of the cluster environment by studying the normalised rates and radial distributions of star formation in galaxies within low-redshift clusters.…
Recent exoplanet surveys revealed that for solar-type stars, close-in Super-Earths are ubiquitous and many of them are in multi-planet systems. These systems are more compact than the Solar System's terrestrial planets. However, there have…
Although debris disks may be common in exoplanet systems, only a few systems are known in which debris disks and planets coexist. Planets and the surrounding stellar population can have a significant impact on debris disk evolution. Here we…
The discovery of planets around massive stars is important for understanding how planet formation and evolution is conditioned by different stellar environments. However, current planetary search surveys have failed to detect planets around…
How rapidly a planet grows in mass and how far they may park from the host star depend sensitively on two non-dimensional parameters: Stokes number St and turbulent $\alpha$. Yet, these parameters remain highly uncertain being difficult or…
The conditions that a planet must fulfill to be habitable are not precisely known. However, it is comparatively easier to define conditions under which a planet is very likely not habitable. Finding such conditions is important as it can…
Depending on the stellar densities, protoplanetary discs in stellar clusters undergo background heating, disc truncation-driven by stellar encounter, and photo-evaporation. Disc truncation leads to reduced characteristic sizes and disc…
Planetary formation might occur at different stages of the stellar evolution of compact binaries. In recent years, the formation of second-generation planets has been tested in circumbinary discs formed by the ejection of stellar material…