Related papers: Testing exoplanet evaporation with multi-transitin…
We develop PLATYPOS (PLAneTarY PhOtoevaporation Simulator), a python code to perform planetary photoevaporative mass-loss calculations for close-in planets with hydrogen-helium envelopes atop Earth-like rocky cores. With physical and model…
High contrast direct imaging of exoplanets can provide many important observables, including measurements of the orbit, spectra that probe the lower layers of the atmosphere, and phase variations of the planet, but cannot directly measure…
The dearth of planets with sizes around 1.8 $\mathrm{R_\oplus}$ is a key demographic feature discovered by the $Kepler$ mission. Two theories have emerged as potential explanations for this valley: photoevaporation and core-powered…
We apply hydrodynamic evaporation models to different synthetic planet populations that were obtained from a planet formation code based on a core-accretion paradigm. We investigated the evolution of the planet populations using several…
The most widely-studied mechanism of mass loss from extrasolar planets is photoevaporation via XUV ionization, primarily in the context of highly irradiated planets. However, the EUV dissociation of hydrogen molecules can also theoretically…
The masses and radii of extrasolar planets are key observables for understanding their interior, formation and evolution. While transit photometry and Doppler spectroscopy are used to measure the radii and masses respectively of planets…
Understanding atmospheric escape in close-in exoplanets is critical to interpreting their evolution. We map out the parameter space over which photoevaporation and core-powered mass loss dominate atmospheric escape. Generally, the…
A transiting planet invites us to measure its size, mass, orbital parameters, atmospheric composition, and other characteristics. But the invitation can only be accepted if the host star is bright enough for precise measurements of its flux…
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has been highly successful in detecting planets in close orbits around low-mass stars, particularly M dwarfs. This presents a valuable opportunity to conduct detailed population studies to…
Both direct and indirect methods of exoplanet detection rely upon detailed knowledge of the potential host stars. Such stellar characterization allows for accurate extraction of planetary properties, as well as contributing to our overall…
Water worlds have been hypothesized as an alternative to photo-evaporation in order to explain the gap in the radius distribution of Kepler exoplanets. We explore water worlds within the framework of a joint mass-radius-period distribution…
For much of human history we have wondered how our solar system formed, and whether there are any other planets like ours around other stars. Only in the last 20 years have we had direct evidence for the existence of exoplanets, with the…
We search for evidence of the cause of the exoplanet radius gap, i.e. the dearth of planets with radii near $1.8\ R_\oplus$. If the cause was photoevaporation, the radius gap should trend with proxies for the early-life high-energy emission…
The increasing number of super-Earths close to their host stars revealed a scarcity of close-in small planets with 1.5-2.0$\,R_\oplus$ in the radius distribution of ${\it Kepler}$ planets. The atmospheric escape of super-Earths by…
Atmospheric mass-loss is known to play a leading role in sculpting the demographics of small, close-in exoplanets. Knowledge of how such planets evolve allows one to ``rewind the clock'' to infer the conditions in which they formed. Here,…
We investigate the evaporation history of known transiting exoplanets in order to consider the origin of observed correlations between mass, surface gravity and orbital period. We show that the survival of the known planets at their current…
The transit method, during which a planet's presence is inferred by measuring the reduction in flux as it passes in front of its parent star, is a highly successful exoplanet detection and characterization technique. During transit, the…
When an extrasolar planet passes in front of its star (transits), its radius can be measured from the decrease in starlight and its orbital period from the time between transits. Multiple planets transiting the same star reveal more: period…
Recent observations identify a valley in the radius distribution of small exoplanets, with planets in the range $1.5-2.0\,{\rm R}_{\oplus}$ significantly less common than somewhat smaller or larger planets. This valley may suggest a bimodal…
The nature of sub-Neptunes remains unknown due to degeneracies in interior structure solutions. However, a statistical set of small planets with measured masses and radii can be used to test the planet formation theory prediction of large…