Related papers: A Simple Analytical Model for Rocky Planet Interio…

During the final stage of planetary formation, different formation pathways of planetary embryos could significantly influence the observed variations in planetary densities. Of the approximately 5,000 exoplanets identified to date, a…

Several transiting super-Earths are expected to be discovered in the coming few years. While tools to model the interior structure of transiting planets exist, inferences about the composition are fraught with ambiguities. We present a…

A small percentage of normal stars harbor giant planets that orbit within a few tenths of an astronomical unit. At such distances the potential exists for significant tidal and magnetic field interaction resulting in energy dissipation that…

The presence of rocky exoplanets with a large refractory carbon inventory is predicted by chemical evolution models of protoplanetary disks of stars with photospheric C/O >0.65, and by models studying the radial transport of refractory…

The radii and orbital periods of 4000+ confirmed/candidate exoplanets have been precisely measured by the Kepler mission. The radii show a bimodal distribution, with two peaks corresponding to smaller planets (likely rocky) and larger…

With the advanced capabilities of ground- and space-based telescopes, exoplanet science is beginning to characterize the physics and chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. However, interpreting exoplanet observations requires sophisticated…

Lava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their day-side is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava planets are tidally locked into synchronous rotation, with…

Most current models of hot-exoplanet atmospheres assume shallow heating, a strong day-night differential heating near the top of the atmosphere. Here we investigate the effects of energy deposition at differing depths in a model tidally…

GJ 436b is the first extrasolar planet discovered that resembles Neptune in mass and radius. The particularly interesting property of Neptune-sized planets is that their mass Mp and radius Rp are close to theoretical M-R relations of water…

In the present series of papers we propose a consistent description of the mass loss process. To study the effects of intrinsic magnetic field of a close-orbit giant exoplanet (so-called Hot Jupiter) on the atmospheric material escape and…

X-ray observations of the hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) in galaxy groups and clusters provide quantities such as their gas mass, X-ray luminosity, and temperature. The analysis of the scaling relations between these observable properties…

Close-in gas giants are expected to have a strong magnetic field of $\sim 10-100$G. Magnetic fields in extrasolar giant planets are detectable by future radio observations in $\gtrsim 10$MHz and the spectropolarimetry of atomic lines. In…

Recent observations identify a valley in the radius distribution of small exoplanets, with planets in the range $1.5-2.0\,{\rm R}_{\oplus}$ significantly less common than somewhat smaller or larger planets. This valley may suggest a bimodal…

Exact and approximate analytical formulas are derived for the internal structure and global parameters of the spherical non-rotating quasi-incompressible planet. The planet is modeled by a polytrope with a small polytropic index n << 1, and…

A new mechanism for the internal heating of ultra-short-period planets is proposed based on the gravitational perturbation by a non-axisymmetric quadrupole moment of their host stars. Such a quadrupole is due to the magnetic flux tubes in…

The search for rocky exoplanets plays an important role in our quest for extra-terrestrial life. Here, we discuss the extreme physical properties possible for the first characterized rocky super-Earth, CoRoT-7b (R_pl = 1.58 \pm 0.10…

An XMM-Newton observation of the cool (kT=2.1 keV) cluster A1983, at z=0.044, is presented. Gas density and temperature profiles are calculated for the inner 500 h_{50}^{-1} kpc (~0.35 r_200). The outer regions of the surface brightness…

Rocky planets hosted by close-in extrasolar systems are likely to be tidally locked in 1:1 spin-orbit resonance, a configuration where they exhibit permanent dayside and nightside. Because of the resulting day-night temperature gradient,…

Flares and associated Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are energetic stellar phenomena that shape the space weather around planets. Close-in exoplanets orbiting active cool stars are likely exposed to extreme space weather whose effects on the…

We propose a simple estimator for the gravitational potential of cluster-size halos using the temperature and density profiles of the intracluster gas based on the assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry. Using high…