Related papers: Was Proxima captured by alpha Centauri A and B?
Relativistic binary pulsars, such as B1534+12 and B1913+16 are characterized by having close orbits with a binary separation of ~ 3 R_\sun. The progenitor of such a system is a neutron star, helium star binary. The helium star, with a…
In the future interstellar exploration at near-relativistic speeds will be possible using beamed energy laser propulsion. With this, spacecraft as small as gm mass picospacecraft become candidates for the exploration of deep space, with a…
Most, if not all, sun-like stars host one or more planets, making multi-planetary systems commonplace in our galaxy. We utilize hundreds of multi-planet simulations to explore the origin of such systems, focusing on their orbital…
Beta Pictoris is an A-type star hosting a complex planetary system with two massive gas giants and a prominent debris disk. Variable absorption lines in its stellar spectrum have been interpreted as signatures of exocomets (comet-like…
The Sun and $\alpha$ Cen A and B are the nearest stars to us. Despite the general agreement between their models and seismic and non-seismic constraints, there are serious problems pertaining to their interior. The good agreement between…
For many classes of astronomical and astrophysical binary systems, long observational records of their radial velocity $V$, which is their directly observable quantity, are available. For exoplanets close to their parent stars, they cover…
We study the dynamical evolution of the TRAPPIST-1 system under the influence of orbital circularization through tidal interaction with the central star. We find that systems with parameters close to the observed one evolve into a state…
Roughly half of Solar-type planet hosts have stellar companions, so understanding how these binary companions affect the formation and evolution of planets is an important component to understanding planetary systems overall. Measuring the…
We are analyzing a sample of closeby galaxy systems, each comprising a bright isolated spiral and its satellites. We find an excess (56%) of prograde satellites over retrograde, which basically holds for all angular displacements from the…
We present results of simulations of the climate of the newly discovered planet Proxima Centauri B, performed using the Met Office Unified Model (UM). We examine the responses of both an `Earth-like' atmosphere and simplified nitrogen and…
During their main sequence lifetimes, the majority of all Galactic Disc field stars must endure at least one stellar intruder passing within a few hundred AU. Mounting observations of planet-star separations near or beyond this distance…
The majority of binary star systems that host exoplanets will spend the first portion of their lives within a star-forming cluster that may drive dynamical evolution of the binary-planet system. We perform numerical simulations of S-type…
The habitability of a planet is influenced by both its parent star and the properties of its local stellar neighborhood. Potential threats to habitability from the local stellar environment mainly arise from two factors: cataclysmic events…
Solar-like oscillations detected in both components of the binary system alpha Centauri provide strong constraints on the fundamental parameters of the stellar system. We model alpha Centauri by means of a Levenberg-Marquardt minimization…
Validated planet candidates need not lie on long-term stable orbits, and instability triggered by post-main-sequence stellar evolution can generate architectures which transport rocky material to white dwarfs, polluting them. The giant…
We use a N--body/hydrodynamic simulation to forecast the future encounter between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies, given current observational constraints on their relative distance, relative velocity, and masses. Allowing for a…
Telescope missions are currently being designed which will make direct imaging of habitable exoplanets possible in the near future, and studies are needed to quantify the detectability of biosignature features in the planet's reflectance…
Proxima c, a candidate second planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, was detected with the radial velocity method. The announced long orbital period (5.21$^{+0.26}_{-0.22}$ years), and small semi-amplitude of the induced Doppler signal…
We have selected archival observational data for several O and B trapezia in the Milky Way. For each of the main components of the trapezia we obtained transverse velocities from the historical separation data. With this information, and…
Stellar members of binary systems are formed from the same material, therefore they should be chemically identical. However, recent high-precision studies have unveiled chemical differences between the two members of binary pairs composed…