Related papers: Direct detection and characterization of M-dwarf p…
Context. M stars are preferred targets for studying terrestrial exoplanets, for which we hope to obtain their atmosphere spectra in the next decade. However, M dwarfs have long been known for strong magnetic activity and the ability to…
M dwarfs are known to flare on timescales from minutes to hours, with flux increases of several magnitudes in the blue/near-UV. These frequent, powerful events, which are caused by magnetic reconnection, will have a strong observational…
M dwarfs show the highest rocky planet occurrence among all spectral types, in some instances within the Habitable Zone. Because some of them are very active stars, they are often subject to frequent and powerful flaring, which can be a…
In a few years, space telescopes will investigate our Galaxy to detect evidence of life, mainly by observing rocky planets. In the last decade, the observation of exoplanet atmospheres and the theoretical works on biosignature gasses have…
M dwarf stars are known for their vigorous flaring. This flaring could impact the climate of orbiting planets, making it important to characterize M dwarf flares at the short wavelengths that drive atmospheric chemistry and escape. We…
With the prevalence of wide-field, time-domain photometric sky surveys, the number of eclipsing white dwarf systems being discovered is increasing dramatically. An efficient method to follow these up will be key to determining any…
Light echoes offer a means of studying protoplanetary disks, including their geometry and composition, even when they are not spatially resolved. We present a test of this approach applied specifically to optically thick, geometrically…
Lightning is an important electrical phenomenon, known to exist in several Solar System planets. It carries information on convection and cloud formation, and may be important for pre-biotic chemistry. Exoplanets and brown dwarfs have been…
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…
M dwarfs are magnetically active stars that frequently produce flares, which have implications for both stellar evolution and exoplanet studies. Flare occurrence rates and activity levels of M dwarfs correlate with stellar characteristics…
Close-in extrasolar giant planets may be directly detectable by their reflected light, due to the proximity of the planet to the illuminating star. The spectrum of the system will contain a reflected light component that varies in amplitude…
We investigate the possibility of exoplanet detection orbiting source stars in microlensing events through WFIRST observations. We perform a Monto Carlo simulation on the detection rate of exoplanets via microlensing, assuming that each…
One of the great quests of astronomy is to obtain the spectrum of a terrestrial planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its star, and the dominant challenge in doing so is to isolate the light of the planet from that of the star.…
Photometric space missions like Kepler and TESS continuously discover new exoplanets and advance the search for a second habitable world. The light curves recorded by these telescopes also reveal signs of magnetic activity, such as star…
Our first targets in the search for signs of life are orbiting nearby M stars, such as the planets in the Proxima Centauri, Ross-128, LHS-1140, and TRAPPIST-1 systems. Future ground-based discoveries, and those from the TESS mission, will…
More than 3000 exoplanets have been detected so far, and more and more spectroscopic observations of exoplanets are performed. Future instruments are eagerly awaited as they will be able to provide spectroscopic data with a greater accuracy…
We point out some advantages of making observations of extrasolar planets in linearly polarized (LP) light. Older cool stars have quite low levels (~ 10^-4 to 10^-5) of fractional LP, while extrasolar planets can have relatively high…
Are there other planetary systems in our Universe? Indirect evidence has been found for planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy: the gravity of orbiting planets makes the star wobble, and the resulting periodic Doppler shifts have been…
The distribution of small-scale magnetic fields in stellar photospheres is an important ingredient in our understanding of the magnetism of low mass stars. Their spatial distribution connects the field generated in the stellar interior with…
M dwarfs are prime targets in the hunt for habitable worlds around other stars. This is due to their abundance as well as their small radii and low masses and temperatures, which facilitate the detection of temperate, rocky planets in orbit…