Related papers: Upper Limits on Planet Occurrence around Ultracool…

We have analyzed Kepler light curves for 849 stars with T_eff < 5200 K from our Cycle 1 Guest Observer program. We identify six new eclipsing binaries, one of which has an orbital period of 29.91 d, and two of which are probably W UMa…

We present a statistical analysis of the Kepler M dwarf planet hosts, with a particular focus on the fractional number of systems hosting multiple transiting planets. We manufacture synthetic planetary systems within a range of planet…

We report the conditional occurrences between three planetary types: super-Earths (m sin i $<$ 10 M$_\oplus$, P $<$ 100 days), warm Jupiters (m sin i $>$ 95 $M_\oplus$, 10 $<$ P $<$ 100 days), and cold Jupiters (m sin i $>$ 95 M$_\oplus$, P…

The exotic range of known planetary systems has provoked an equally exotic range of physical explanations for their diverse architectures. However, constraining formation processes requires mapping the observed exoplanet population to that…

We implement a search for exoplanets in campaigns zero through eight (C0-8) of the K2 extension of the Kepler spacecraft. We apply a modified version of the QATS planet search algorithm to K2 light curves produced by the EVEREST pipeline,…

Located at the bottom of the main sequence, ultracool dwarf stars are widespread in the solar neighbourhood. Nevertheless, their extremely low luminosity has left their planetary population largely unexplored, and only one of them,…

With the first observations of debris disks as well as proposed planets around white dwarfs, the question of how rocky planets around such stellar remnants can be characterized and probed for signs of life becomes tangible. White dwarfs are…

A large fraction of white dwarfs (WDs) may host planets in their habitable zones. These planets may provide our best chance to detect bio-markers on a transiting exoplanet, thanks to the diminished contrast ratio between the Earth-sized WD…

Gravitational microlensing is the only method capable of exploring the entire population of free-floating planets down to Mars-mass objects, because the microlensing signal does not depend on the brightness of the lensing object. A…

We analyze a 19-night photometric search for transiting extrasolar planets in the open cluster NGC 1245. An automated transit search algorithm with quantitative selection criteria finds six transit candidates; none are bona fide planetary…

We present the results of the SuperLupus Survey for transiting hot Jupiter planets, which monitored a single Galactic disk field spanning 0.66 sq. deg for 108 nights over three years. Ten candidates were detected: one is a transiting…

Context. The discovery of about 700 extrasolar planets, so far, has lead to the first statistics concerning extrasolar planets. The presence of giant planets seems to depend on stellar metallicity and mass. For example, they are more…

We report rotational periods for 16 young brown dwarfs in the nearby Upper Scorpius association, based on 72 days of high-cadence, high-precision photometry from the Kepler space telescope's K2 mission. The periods range from a few hours to…

To date the search for habitable Earth-like planets has primarily focused on nuclear burning stars. I propose that this search should be expanded to cool white dwarf stars that have expended their nuclear fuel. I define the continuously…

The ongoing High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Search (HARPS) has found that 30-50% of GK dwarfs in the solar neighborhood host planets with sub-Neptune masses in orbits of P < 50 days. At first glance, this overall occurrence rate seems…

[Abridged] Context. The CoRoT space mission has been searching for transiting planets since the end of December 2006. Aims. We aim to investigate the capability of CoRoT to detect small-size transiting planets in short-period orbits, and to…

The transit method is currently one of our best means for the detection of potentially habitable "Earth-like" exoplanets. In principle, given sufficiently high photometric precision, cool Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars could…

The CoRoT mission during its flight-phase 2007-2012 delivered the light-curves for over 2000 eclipsing binaries. Data from the Kepler mission have proven the existence of several transiting circumbinary planets. Albeit light-curves from…

Population studies of Kepler's multi-planet systems have revealed a surprising degree of structure in their underlying architectures. Information from a detected transiting planet can be combined with a population model to make predictions…

Context. Hot subdwarfs experienced strong mass loss on the Red Giant Branch (RGB) and are now hot and small He-burning objects. Aims. In this project we aim to perform a transit survey in all available light curves of hot subdwarfs from…