Related papers: A Framework for Planet Detection with Faint Light-…
We investigate an in-situ formation scenario for Earth-mass terrestrial planets in short-period, potentially habitable orbits around low-mass stars (M_star < 0.3 M_sun). We then investigate the feasibility of detecting these Earth-sized…
Owing to technological advances, the number of exoplanets discovered has risen dramatically in the last few years. However, when trying to observe Earth analogs, it is often difficult to test the veracity of detection. We have developed a…
Star-forming galaxies which are too faint to be detected individually produce intensity fluctuations in the cosmic background light. This contribution needs to be taken into account as a foreground when using the primordial signal to…
Current plans call for the first Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, TPF-C, to be a monolithic space telescope with a coronagraph for achieving high contrast. The coronagraph removes the diffracted starlight allowing the nearby planet to be…
M dwarfs are the most common stars in the galaxy, with long lifespans, a high occurrence rate of rocky planets, and close-in habitable zones. However, high stellar activity in the form of frequent flaring and any associated coronal mass…
Under the current microlensing planet search strategy of monitoring events caused by stellar-mass lenses, only planets located within a narrow region of separations from central stars can be effectively detected. However, with the dramatic…
Gravitational scattering events, in which the path of an interstellar object is deflected by a pulsar or the solar system, give rise to reflex motion which can potentially be detected using pulsar timing. We determine the form of the timing…
We detect a cold, terrestrial planet in a binary-star system using gravitational microlensing. The planet has low mass (2 Earth masses) and lies projected at $a_{\perp,ph}$ ~ 0.8 astronomical units (AU) from its host star, similar to the…
We show that space-based telescopes such as the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph will be able to detect the light scattered by the interstellar grains along lines of sight passing near stars in our Galaxy. The relative flux of…
We briefly review the various proposed scenarios that may lead to nonthermal radio emissions from exoplanetary systems (planetary magnetospheres, magnetosphere-ionosphere and magnetosphere-satellite coupling, and star-planet interactions),…
Exoplanets, short for `extra solar planets', are planets outside our solar system. They are objects with masses less than around 15 Jupiter-masses that orbit stars other than the Sun. They are small enough so they can not burn deuterium in…
To maximize the number of planet detections by increasing efficiency, current microlensing follow-up observation experiments are focusing on high-magnification events to search for planet-induced perturbations near the peak of lensing light…
Coronagraphs allow for faint off-axis exoplanets to be observed, but are limited to angular separations greater than a few beam widths. Accessing closer-in separations would greatly increase the expected number of detectable planets, which…
A space telescope capable of high-contrast imaging has been recognized as the avenue toward finding terrestrial planets around nearby Sun-like stars and characterizing their potential habitability. It is thus essential to quantify the…
The detection of lower mass planets now being reported via radial velocity and microlensing surveys suggests that they may be ubiquitous. If missions such as Kepler are able to confirm this, the detection and study of rocky planets via…
Interstellar scattering is known to broaden distant objects spatially and temporally. The latter aspect is difficult to analyse, unless the signals carry their own time stamps. Pulsars are so kind to do us this favour. Typically the…
We discuss a possible method for detection of dark companions of galactic objects of stellar mass. Such binary systems are likely to occur in the galactic disk and possibly also in the halo. The high incidence of binary and…
A double planet system or planet binary undergoes eclipses that modify the reflective light curve. In the time domain, the eclipse events are fast and weak. This would make their signal difficult to find and recognize in the phase light…
We propose and evaluate the feasibility of a new strategy to search for planets via microlensing observations. This new strategy is designed to detect planets in "wide" orbits, i.e., with orbital separation, a, greater than ~1.5 R_E.…
Context: Planets outside our solar system transiting their host star, i. e. those with an orbital inclination near 90 degree, are of special interest to derive physical properties of extrasolar planets. With the knowledge of the host star's…