Related papers: Dynamically hot Super-Earths from outer giant plan…
We present a statistical analysis of the Kepler M dwarf planet hosts, with a particular focus on the fractional number of systems hosting multiple transiting planets. We manufacture synthetic planetary systems within a range of planet…
We review the observed properties of exoplanets found by the Doppler technique which has revealed 152 exoplanets to date. We focus on our ongoing 18-year survey of 1330 FGKM type stars at Lick, Keck, and the Anglo-Australian Telescopes…
Gravitational scattering between massive planets has been invoked to explain the eccentricity distribution of extrasolar planets. For scattering to occur, the planets must either form in -- or migrate into -- an unstable configuration. In…
Recent work has shown that the planets in the $Kepler$ Mission's population of multi-transiting systems show surprising uniformity in both mass and radius. In this brief note, I show that this intra-system mass uniformity extends to…
Hot Jupiters (HJs) are short-period giant planets that are observed around ~ 1% of solar-type field stars. One possible formation scenario for HJs is high-eccentricity (high-e) migration, in which the planet forms at much larger radii, is…
Hot Jupiters are giant planets on orbits a few hundredths of an AU. They do not share their system with low-mass close-in planets, despite these latter being exceedingly common. Two migration channels for hot Jupiters have been proposed:…
By surveying new fields for the shortest-period "big" planets, the Kepler spacecraft could provide the statistics to more clearly measure the occurrence distributions of giant and medium planets. This would allow separate determinations for…
Eccentricity is an important orbital parameter. Understanding its effect on planetary climate and habitability is critical for us to search for a habitable world beyond our solar system. The orbital configurations of M-dwarf planets are…
Unlike hot Jupiters or other gas giants, super-Earths are expected to have a wide variety of compositions, ranging from terrestrial bodies like our own to more gaseous planets like Neptune. Observations of transiting systems, which allow us…
Doppler planet searches revealed that many giant planets orbit close to their host star or in highly eccentric orbits. These and subsequent observations inspired new theories of planet formation that invoke gravitation interactions in…
Hot Jupiters have been perceived as loners devoid of planetary companions in close orbital proximity. However, recent discoveries based on space-borne precise photometry have revealed that at least some fraction of giant planets coexists…
During the late stage of planet formation when Mars-size cores appear, interactions among planetary cores can excite their orbital eccentricities, speed their merges and thus sculpture the final architecture of planet systems. This series…
Among the hundred or so extrasolar planets discovered to date, 19 are orbiting a component of a double or multiple star system. In this paper, we discuss the properties of these planets and compare them to the characteristics of planets…
We report the discovery of four super-Earth planets around HD 215152, with orbital periods of 5.76, 7.28, 10.86, and 25.2 d, and minimum masses of 1.8, 1.7, 2.8, and 2.9 M_Earth respectively. This discovery is based on 373 high-quality…
A distinct population of planetary systems that contain dynamically isolated, Earth-size planets with orbital periods $P_\mathrm{orb}\sim 1\,$day was recently identified in an analysis of data from the Kepler planet candidate catalog. We…
Among the numerous discoveries resulting from the {\it Kepler} mission are a plethora of compact planetary systems that provide deep insights into planet formation theories. The architecture of such compact systems also produces unique…
We present a correlation between the stellar metallicities and the mutual inclinations of multi-planet systems hosting short-period small planets (a/Rs<12, Rp<4Re). We analyzed 89 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler, K2, and TESS,…
We analyze the effect of companion stars on the bulk density of 29 planets orbiting 15 stars in the Kepler field. These stars have at least one stellar companion within 2", and the planets have measured masses and radii, allowing an…
The Kepler Mission, combined with ground based radial velocity (RV) follow-up and dynamical analyses of transit timing variations, has revolutionized the observational constraints on sub-Neptune-size planet compositions. The results of an…
The majority of the transiting planets discovered by the Kepler mission (called super-Earths here, includes the so-called 'sub-Neptunes') orbit close to their stars. As such, photoevaporation of their hydrogen envelopes etch sharp features…