Related papers: On the Possibility of Detecting Class A Stellar En…
Direct imaging of exoplanets will allow us to directly observe the planet in reflected light. Such a scenario may eventually allow for the possibility to scan the planetary surface for the presence of artificial structures made by alien…
Transitional disks are objects whose inner disk regions have undergone substantial clearing. The Spitzer Space Telescope produced detailed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of transitional disks that allowed us to infer their radial dust…
Main-sequence stars earlier than spectral type ~F6 or so are expected to rotate rapidly due to their radiative exteriors. This rapid rotation leads to an oblate stellar figure. It also induces the photosphere to be hotter (by up to several…
Precision wavefront control on future segmented-aperture space telescopes presents significant challenges, particularly in the context of high-contrast exoplanet direct imaging. We present a new wavefront control architecture that…
When extrasolar planets are observed to transit their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for transiting planets that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and…
The STARE instrument is a small aperture, wide-field, CCD-based telescope that delivers high cadence time series photometry on roughly 40,000 stars in a typical field centered on the galactic plane. In a two-month observing run on a field,…
Photometric observations of exoplanet transits can be used to derive the orbital and physical parameters of an exoplanet. We analyzed several transit light curves of exoplanets that are suitable for ground-based observations whose complete…
The precise derivation of transit depths from transit light curves is a key component for measuring exoplanet transit spectra, and henceforth for the study of exoplanet atmospheres. However, it is still deeply affected by various kinds of…
We recommend that the search for exoplanets around binary stars be extended to include X-ray binaries in which the accretor is a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole. We present a novel idea for detecting planets bound to such mass…
ALMA continuum observations of thermal emission from the dust component of protoplanetary disks have revealed an abundance of substructures that may be interpreted as evidence for embedded planets, but planet-driven spiral arms -- perhaps…
Kepler-13Ab (KOI-13) is an exoplanet orbiting a rapidly rotating A-type star. The system shows a significant spin-orbit misalignment and a changing transit duration most probably caused by the precession of the orbit. Here we present a…
As the first and till date the only one multiple planet hosting dwarf star that is sufficiently cool to form condensate cloud in it atmosphere, Trappist-1 provides unique opportunity to test the efficiency of image polarimetry as a tool to…
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,…
The search for exoplanets has become a focal point of astronomical research, captivating public attention and driving scientific inquiry; however, the rush to confirm exoplanet discoveries has often overlooked potential alternative…
For extrasolar planets with orbital periods, P>10 days, radial velocity surveys find non-circular orbital eccentricities are common, <e>~0.3. Future surveys for extrasolar planets using the transit technique will also have sensitivity to…
The Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect is the distortion of stellar spectral lines that occurs during eclipses or transits, due to stellar rotation. We assess the future prospects for using the RM effect to measure the alignment of planetary…
From simulations of transit observations, it is found that the detectability of extrasolar planets depends only on two parameters: The signal-to-noise ratio during a transit, and the number of data points observed during transits. All other…
Extragalactic relativistic jets are engines able to carry out to large distances a huge amount of power, not only in the form of radiation, but especially in the form of kinetic energy of matter and fields. As such, they can be thought as…
We analyze the potential transit light curve effects due to a Clarke belt of satellites around an exoplanet. Building on code and analysis from Korpela, Sallmen, & Leystra Greene (2015), we refine the transit analysis of Socas-Navarro…
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will generate light curves for approximately 1 billion stars. Our previous work has demonstrated that, by the end of the LSST 10 year mission, large numbers of transiting exoplanetary systems could…