Related papers: Effective induction heating around strongly magnet…
The discovery of Jupiter-mass planets in close orbits about their parent stars has challenged models of planet formation. Recent observations have shown that a number of these planets have highly inclined, sometimes retrograde orbits about…
H$_2$-dominated terrestrial exoplanets are highly accessible to atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy, but such atmospheres are generally thought to be unstable to escape. Here, we propose that close-in, eccentric…
The low luminosity of Uranus is still a puzzling phenomenon and has key implications for the thermal and compositional gradients within the planet. Recent studies have shown that planetary volatiles become ionically conducting under…
The unexpectedly large radii of hot Jupiters are a longstanding mystery whose solution will provide important insights into their interior physics. Many potential solutions have been suggested, which make diverse predictions about the…
Numerical simulations have shown that the strength of planetary magnetic fields depends on the convective energy flux emerging from planetary interiors. Here we model the interior structure of gas giant planets using \texttt{MESA}, to…
The radii of some transiting extrasolar giant planets are larger than would be expected by the standard theory. We address this puzzle with the model of coupled radius-orbit tidal evolution developed by \citet{Ibgui_and_Burrows_2009}. The…
Atmospheric circulation on tidally-locked exoplanets is driven by the absorption and reradiation of heat from the host star. They are natural heat engines, converting heat into mechanical energy. A steady state is possible only if there is…
High-resolution imaging of protoplanetary disks has unveiled a rich diversity of spiral structure, some of which may arise from disk-planet interaction. Using 3D hydrodynamics with $\beta$-cooling to a vertically-stratified background, as…
In the core accretion paradigm of planet formation, gas giants only form a massive atmosphere after their progenitors exceeded a threshold mass: the critical core mass. Most (exo)planets, being smaller and rock/ice-dominated, never crossed…
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:…
The surface of both Jupiter and Saturn has magnificent vortical storms which help shape the dynamic nature of their atmospheres. Land- and space-based observational campaigns over time have established several properties of these vortices,…
Classical T Tauri stars are pre-main-sequence objects that undergo simultaneous accretion, wind outflow, and coronal X-ray emission. The impact of plasma on the stellar surface from magnetospheric accretion streams is likely to be a…
We present 2D hydrodynamical simulations of hot Jupiters orbiting near the inner edge of protoplanetary discs. We systemically explore how the accretion rate at the inner disc edge is regulated by a giant planet of different mass, orbital…
(Abridged) The upper atmospheres of close-in gas giant exoplanets are subjected to intense heating/tidal forces from their parent stars. Atomic/ionized hydrogen (H) layers are sufficiently rarefied that magnetic pressure may dominate gas…
The radii of hot Jupiters are still not fully understood and all of the proposed explanations are based on the idea that these close-in giant planets possess hot interiors. We approach the radius anomaly problem by adopting a statistical…
One potential star-planet interaction mechanism for hot Jupiters involves planetary heating via currents set up by interactions between the stellar wind and planetary magnetosphere. Early modeling results indicate that such currents, which…
Through the process of inward diffusion, a strongly localized clump of plasma is created in a magnetosphere. The creation of the density gradient, instead of the usual flattening by a diffusion process, can be explained by the topological…
Fast rotating cool stars are characterised by high magnetic activity levels and frequently show dark spots up to polar latitudes. Their distinctive surface distributions of magnetic flux are investigated in the context of the solar-stellar…
In circumstellar disks around young stars, the gravitational influence of nascent planets produces telltale patterns in density, temperature, and kinematics. To better understand these signatures, we first performed 3D hydrodynamical…
It is becoming clear that the atmospheres of the young, self-luminous extrasolar giant planets imaged to date are dusty. Planets with dusty atmospheres may exhibit detectable amounts of linear polarization in the near-infrared, as has been…