Related papers: Planet Detectability in the Alpha Centauri System
We report on coronagraphic observations of the nearest solar-type star, $\alpha$ Cen A, using the MIRI instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. With three epochs of observation (August 2024, February 2025, and April 2025), we achieve a…
Due to their higher planet-star mass-ratios, M dwarfs are the easiest targets for detection of low-mass planets orbiting nearby stars using Doppler spectroscopy. Furthermore, because of their low masses and luminosities, Doppler…
We compile a sample of 341 binary and multiple star systems with the aim of searching for and characterising Kuiper belt-like debris discs. The sample is assembled by combining several smaller samples studied in previously published work…
Among more than 200 extrasolar planet candidates discovered to date, there is no known planet orbiting around normal binary stars. In this paper, we demonstrate that microlensing is a technique that can detect such planets. Microlensing…
Jupiter-mass planets with large semi-major axes ($a > 1.0$ AU) occur at a higher rate around evolved intermediate mass stars. There is a pronounced paucity of close-in ($a < 0.6$ AU), intermediate period ($5 < P < 100$ days), low-mass…
We present a model of the stellar populations in the fields observed by one of the SuperWASP-N cameras in the 2004 observing season. We use the Besancon Galactic model to define the range of stellar types and metallicities present, and…
Variations related to stellar activity and correlated noise can prevent the detections of low-amplitude signals in radial velocity data if not accounted for. This can be seen as the greatest obstacle in detecting Earth-like planets orbiting…
We report simultaneous observations of the nearby flare star Proxima Centauri with VLT/UVES and XMM-Newton over three nights in March 2009. Our optical and X-ray observations cover the star's quiescent state, as well as its flaring activity…
The radial velocity method is amongst the most robust and most established means of detecting exoplanets. Yet, it has so far failed to detect circumbinary planets despite their relatively high occurrence rates. Here, we report velocimetric…
Planetary companions to the source stars of a caustic-crossing binary microlensing events can be detected via the deviation from the parent light curves created when the caustic magnifies the star light reflecting off the atmosphere or…
Radial velocities measured from near-infrared spectra are a potentially powerful tool to search for planets around cool stars and sub-stellar objects. However, no technique currently exists that yields near-infrared radial velocity…
The nearest stellar system consists of the stars Proxima, alpha Centauri A and B and at least one planet Proxima b. The habitability of Proxima b and any other planets are likely to be significantly influenced by the orbital evolution of…
The newly detected Earth-mass planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri could potentially host life - if it has an atmosphere that supports surface liquid water. We show that thermal phase curve observations with the James Webb Space…
Circumbinary planets - planets that orbit both stars in a binary system - offer the opportunity to study planet formation and orbital migration in a different environment compare to single stars. However, despite the fact that > 90% of…
Unresolved stellar companions can cause both under-estimations in the radii of transiting planets and over-estimations of their detectability, affecting our ability to reliably measure planet occurrence rates. To quantify the latter, we…
Astrometric detection involves a precise measurement of stellar positions, and is widely regarded as the leading concept presently ready to find earth-mass planets in temperate orbits around nearby sun-like stars. The TOLIMAN space…
Our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri, is a low mass star with spectral typedM5.5 and hosting an Earth-like planet orbiting within its habitable zone. However, the habitability of the planet depends on the high-energy radiation of…
Radial-velocity (RV) signals induce RV variations an order of magnitude larger than the signal created by the orbit of Earth-twins, thus preventing their detection. The goal of this paper is to compare the efficiency of the different…
We calculate the upper bounds of the population of theoretically stable Centaur orbits between Uranus and Neptune. These small bodies are on low-eccentricity, low-inclination orbits in two specific bands of semi-major axis, centred at…
With more than 15 years since the the first radial velocity discovery of a planet orbiting a Sun-like star, the time baseline for radial velocity surveys is now extending out beyond the orbit of Jupiter analogs. The sensitivity to exoplanet…