Related papers: Finding Exoplanets Orbiting Young Active Stars. I.…
The CoRoT satellite has recently discovered the transits of a telluric planet across the disc of a late-type magnetically active star dubbed CoRoT-7, while a second planet has been detected after filtering out the radial velocity (hereafter…
We re-analyze the precision radial velocity (RV) data of HD188015, HD114729, HD190360, HD147513 and HD208487. All these stars are supposed to host Jovian companions in long-period orbits. We test a hypothesis that the residuals of the…
Searches for planets around evolved G-K subgiant and giant stars are essential for developing general understanding of planet formation and evolution of the planetary systems. Precise radial velocity (RV) measurements of giants have lead to…
Planetary transits provide a unique opportunity to investigate the surface distributions of star spots. Our aim is to determine if, with continuous observation (such as the data that will be provided by the Kepler mission), we can in…
We present a new, simple method to predict activity-induced radial velocity variations using high-precision time-series photometry. It is based on insights from a simple spot model, has only two free parameters (one of which can be…
We present feasibility studies to directly image stellar surface features, which are caused by magnetic activity, with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). We concentrate on late type magnetically active stars, for which the…
Observations of stellar surfaces - except for the Sun - are hampered by their tiny angular extent, while observed spectral lines are smeared by averaging over the stellar surface, and by stellar rotation. Exoplanet transits can be used to…
We introduce a new method to infer the posterior distribution for planet occurrence rates from radial-velocity (RV) observations. The approach combines posterior samples from the analysis of individual RV datasets of several stars, using…
Stellar activity influences radial velocity (RV) measurements and can also mimic the presence of orbiting planets. As part of the search for planets around the components of wide binaries performed with the SARG High Resolution Spectrograph…
The intrinsic variability due to the magnetic activity of young active stars is one of the main challenges in detecting and characterising exoplanets. We present a method able to model the stellar photosphere and its surface inhomogeneities…
To obtain cm/s precision, stellar surface magneto-convection must be disentangled from observed radial velocities (RVs). In order to understand and remove the convective signature, we create Sun-as-a-star model observations based on a 3D…
Precise exoplanet characterization requires precise classification of exoplanet host stars. The masses of host stars are commonly estimated by comparing their spectra to those predicted by stellar evolution models. However,…
Determination of an exoplanet's mass is a key to understanding its basic properties, including its potential for supporting life. To date, mass constraints for exoplanets are predominantly based on radial velocity (RV) measurements, which…
Stellar active regions, including spots and faculae, can create radial velocity (RV) signals that interfere with the detection and mass measurements of low mass exoplanets. In doing so, these active regions affect each spectral line…
Detecting and confirming terrestrial planets is incredibly difficult due to their tiny size and mass relative to Sun-like host stars. However, recent instrumental advancements are making the detection of Earth-like exoplanets…
More than 450 exoplanets have currently been detected, most of them by the radial velocity (RV) technique. While the majority of exoplanets have been found around main-sequence (MS) FGK stars (M 1.5M*), only a small fraction (- 10%) have…
Twenty-four years after the discoveries of the first exoplanets, the radial-velocity (RV) method is still one of the most productive techniques to detect and confirm exoplanets. But stellar magnetic activity can induce RV variations large…
Stellar radial velocity (RV) measurements have proven to be a very successful method for detecting extrasolar planets. Analysing RV data to determine the parameters of the extrasolar planets is a significant statistical challenge owing to…
Transits of exoplanets across cool stars contain blended information about structures on the stellar surface and about the planetary body and atmosphere. To advance understanding of how this information is entangled, a surface-flux…
Results of photometric surveys have brought to light the existence of a population of giant planets orbiting their host stars even closer than the hot Jupiters (HJ), with orbital periods below 3 days. The reason why radial velocity surveys…