Related papers: Volatile Loss and Classification of Kuiper Belt Ob…
The planets of the Solar System divide neatly between those with atmospheres and those without when arranged by insolation ($I$) and escape velocity ($v_{\mathrm{esc}}$). The dividing line goes as $I \propto v_{\mathrm{esc}}^4$. Exoplanets…
(abridged) We identify 3 Kepler transiting planets, Kepler-7b, Kepler-12b, and Kepler-41b, whose orbital phase-folded light curves are dominated by planetary atmospheric processes including thermal emission and reflected light, while the…
We examine the ability of impacts by Kuiper Belt debris to cause regolith exchange between objects in the Pluto system. We find that ejecta velocities from KB impacts are too low to escape from Pluto and Charon. However, ejecta can escape…
The low equilibrium temperatures of temperate sub-Neptunes lead to extremely long chemical timescales in their upper atmospheres, causing the abundances of chemical species to be strongly shaped by atmospheric transport. Here, we used a…
It appears that at least several percent of large Kuiper belt objects are members of wide binaries. Physical collisions are too infrequent to account for their formation. Collisionless gravitational interactions are more promising. These…
We report high precision photometry of three small and one larger Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (ACS/HST). The three small bodies are the smallest KBOs for which…
Ambient plasma electrons undergo strong heating in regions associated with compressive traveling interplanetary solar-wind bulk-velocity jumps due to their specific interactions with the jump-inherent electric fields. After thermalization…
We simulate the space environment around AU Microscopii b and the interaction between the magnetized stellar wind with a planetary atmospheric outflow for ambient stellar wind conditions and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) conditions. We also…
A proposed Vera C. Rubin Observatory Deep Drilling micro-survey of the Kuiper Belt will investigate key properties of the distant solar system. Utilizing 30 hours of Rubin time across six 5-hour visits over one year starting in summer 2026,…
The proposed field-of-view of the Kepler mission is at an ecliptic latitude of ~55 degrees, where the surface density of scattered Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) is a few percent that in the ecliptic plane. The rate of occultations of Kepler…
KELT-9 b, the hottest known exoplanet with $T\sim4400$ K, is the archetype of a new planet class known as ultra-hot Jupiters. These exoplanets are presumed to have an atmosphere dominated by neutral and ionized atomic species. In…
Past studies have demonstrated that atmospheric escape by the core-powered mass-loss mechanism can explain a multitude of observations associated with the radius valley that separates the super-Earth and sub-Neptune planet populations.…
We present the first results of the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 Test of Surfaces in the Outer Solar System (H/WTSOSS). The purpose of this survey was to measure the surface properties of a large number of Kuiper belt objects and attempt to…
Observations of the Kuiper Belt indicate that a larger than expected percentage of KBO's (approximately 8 out of 500) are in binary pairs. The formation and survival of such objects presents a conundrum [1]. Two competing theories have been…
The ion escape of Mars' CO$_2$ atmosphere caused by its dissociation products C and O atoms is {simulated} from present time to $\sim 4.1$ billion years ago (Ga) by {numerical models of the upper atmosphere and its interaction with the…
Photochemical escape is an important process for oxygen escape from present Mars. In this work, a 1-D Monte-Carlo Model is developed to calculate escape rates of energetic oxygen atoms produced from O2+ dissociative recombination reactions…
Rotation in planetary atmospheres plays an important role in regulating atmospheric and oceanic heat flow, cloud formation and precipitation. Using the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) three dimension General Circulation Model…
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…
Upper atmospheres of Hot Jupiters are subject to extreme radiation conditions that can result in rapid atmospheric escape. The composition and structure of the upper atmospheres of these planets are affected by the high-energy spectrum of…
Atmospheric escape is an important factor shaping the exoplanet population and hence drives our understanding of planet formation. Atmospheric escape from giant planets is driven primarily by the stellar X-ray and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV)…