Related papers: Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using hig…
The timing method, using either stellar pulsations or eclipse timing of close binaries as a clock, is proving to be an efficient way to detect planets around stars that have evolved beyond the red giant branch. In this article we present a…
Radial velocity searches for exoplanets have detected many multi-planet systems around nearby bright stars. An advantage of this technique is that it generally samples the orbit outside of inferior/superior conjunction, potentially allowing…
Until 2013, only the giant planets were known to host ring systems. In June 2013, a stellar occulation revealed the presence of narrow and dense rings around Chariklo, a small Centaur object that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. Meanwhile,…
Some highly irradiated close-in exoplanets orbit stars showing anomalously low stellar chromospheric emission. We attribute this to absorption by circumstellar gas replenished by mass loss from ablating planets. Here we report statistics…
Results from a photometric search for extrasolar planetary transits across the eclipsing binary CM Dra are presented. The TEP (Transits of Extrasolar Planets) network has observed this star since 1994, and a lightcurve with 617 hours of…
We briefly review the various proposed scenarios that may lead to nonthermal radio emissions from exoplanetary systems (planetary magnetospheres, magnetosphere-ionosphere and magnetosphere-satellite coupling, and star-planet interactions),…
Photometry of short-period planetary systems allows astronomers to monitor exoplanets, their host stars, and their mutual interactions. In addition to the transits of a planet in front of its star and the eclipses of the planet by its star,…
The traditional method for detecting extra-solar planets relies on measuring a small stellar wobble which is assumed to be caused by a planet orbiting the star. Recently, it was suggested that a similar stellar wobble could be caused by a…
Given the tendency of planets to form in multiples, and the observational evidence in support of the existence of potential planet-hosting stars in binaries or clusters, it is expected that extrasolar terrestrial planes are more likely to…
Large dips in the brightness for a number of stars have been observed, for which the tentative explanation is occultation of the star by a transiting circumplanetary disk or ring system. In order for the circumplanetary disk/rings to block…
The circular polarization of light that planets reflect is often neglected because it is very small compared to the linear polarization. It could, however, provide information on a planet's atmosphere and surface, and on the presence of…
The discovery of planets around PSR~1257+12 suggests that planetary systems may be detected around the recycled pulsars found in globular clusters. Planetary systems in dense clusters have lifetimes to disruption due to perturbations by…
Recent low-frequency radio observations suggest that some nearby M dwarfs could be interacting magnetically with undetected close-in planets, powering the emission via the electron cyclotron maser (ECM) instability. Confirmation of such a…
Irregular moons are a class of satellite found orbiting all of the Solar System's giant planets: as their orbits don't match those of their planets, they are theorised to have formed elsewhere in the Solar System and were subsequently…
The field of exoplanetary science has seen discovery rates increase dramatically over recent years, due largely to the data from the Kepler mission. Even so, individual discoveries of planets orbiting nearby stars are very important for…
Refraction deflects photons that pass through atmospheres, which affects transit light curves. Refraction thus provides an avenue to probe physical properties of exoplanet atmospheres and to constrain the presence of clouds and hazes. In…
The planet orbiting tau Boo at a separation of 0.046 AU could produce a reflected light flux as bright as 1e-4 relative to that of the star. A spectrum of the system will contain a reflected light component which varies in amplitude and…
We show that the claimed confirmed planet Kepler-452b (a.k.a. K07016.01, KIC 8311864) can not be confirmed using a purely statistical validation approach. Kepler detects many more periodic signals from instrumental effects than it does from…
We analyze the properties of searches devoted to finding planetary transits by observing simple stellar systems, such as globular clusters, open clusters, and the Galactic bulge. We develop the analytic tools necessary to predict the number…
The next generation of ground- and space-based observatories will enable direct imaging and characterization of cold, mature planets through thermal emission and, for the first time, reflected light detection. Known RV and astrometrically…