Related papers: The Mass, Orbit, and Tidal Evolution of the Quaoar…
Weywot, Quaoar's small satellite, follows a nearly circular orbit at a distance of 12.9 times Quaoar's diameter and coexists with a compact ring system. Nevertheless, Quaoar's flattening of 0.16, slow 17.7hr rotation and Weywot's low mass…
Here we report WFPC2 observations of the Quaoar-Weywot Kuiper belt binary. From these observations we find that Weywot is on an elliptical orbit with eccentricity of 0.14 {\pm} 0.04, period of 12.438 {\pm} 0.005 days, and a semi-major axis…
We present a detailed dynamical analysis of the Quaoar-Weywot system based on nearly 20 years of high-precision astrometric data, including new HST observations and stellar occultations. Our study reveals that Weywot's orbit deviates…
We consider the evolution of a binary system interacting due to tidal effects without restriction on the orientation of the orbital, and where significant, spin angular momenta, and orbital eccentricity. We work in the low tidal forcing…
Many binary stellar systems in which the primary star is beyond the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) evolutionary phase show significant orbital eccentricities whereas current binary interaction models predict their orbits to be circularised.…
Recent observations of a stellar occultation have revealed the presence of a previously undiscovered small satellite around Quaoar. Orbiting near Quaoar's unusual ring system, this new satellite has the potential to provide significant…
We investigate the dynamical evolution of hierarchical three-body systems under the effect of tides, when the ratio of the orbital semi-major axes is small and the mutual inclination is relatively large (greater than 20 degrees). Using the…
Recent discoveries of several transiting planets with clearly non-zero eccentricities and some large inclinations started changing the simple picture of close-in planets having circular and well-aligned orbits. Two major scenarios to form…
We perform numerical simulations to investigate tidal evolution of two single-planet systems, that is, WASP-50 and GJ 1214 and a two-planet system CoRoT-7. The results of orbital evolution show that tidal decay and circularization may play…
The standard model of stellar evolution in Close Binary Systems assumes that during mass transfer episodes the system is in a synchronised and circularised state. Remarkably, the redback system PSR J1723-2837 has an orbital period…
The distribution of eccentricities e of extra-solar planets with semi-major axes a > 0.2 AU is very uniform, and values for e are generally large. For a < 0.2 AU, eccentricities are much smaller (most e < 0.2), a characteristic widely…
We provide a generalized discussion of tidal evolution to arbitrary order in the expansion of the gravitational potential between two spherical bodies of any mass ratio. To accurately reproduce the tidal evolution of a system at separations…
We study the orbital evolution of a three planet system with masses in the super-Earth regime resulting from the action of tides on the planets induced by the central star which cause orbital circularization. We consider systems either in…
Mutual gravitational interactions between the five major Uranian satellites raise small quasi-periodic fluctuations on their orbital elements. At the same time, tidal interactions between the satellites and the planet induce a slow outward…
We investigate the secular evolution of the orbital semi-major axis and eccentricity due to mass transfer in eccentric binaries, assuming conservation of total system mass and orbital angular momentum. Assuming a delta function mass…
We have analysed radial velocity measurements for known transiting exoplanets to study the empirical signature of tidal orbital evolution for close-in planets. Compared to standard eccentricity determination, our approach is modified to…
A giant collision is believed to be at the origin of the Pluto-Charon system. As a result, the initial orbit and spins after impact may have substantially differed from those observed today. More precisely, the distance at periapse may have…
Since 1995, more than 500 extrasolar planets have been discovered orbiting very close to their parent star, where they experience strong tidal interactions. Their orbital evolution depends on the physical mechanisms that cause tidal…
Recently, it has been reported the discovery of a dense ring around the trans-Neptunian object 50000 Quaoar. The ring particles seem to be very close to the 6/1 mean motion resonance with Weywot, the only known satellite in the system. In…
The evolution of planetary systems around white dwarfs is crucial to understanding the presence of planetary material in the atmospheres of white dwarfs. These systems uniquely probe exoplanetary compositions. Periodic signals in the…