Related papers: Why do warm Neptunes present nonzero eccentricity?
Precise atmospheric observations have been made for a growing sample of warm Neptunes. Here we investigate the correlations between these observations and a large number of system parameters to show that, at 95% confidence, the amplitude of…
The stellar spin-orbit angles of Neptune-sized planets present a primordial yet puzzling view of the planetary formation epoch. The striking dichotomy of aligned and perpendicular orbital configurations are suggestive of obliquity…
A sample of spectroscopic binaries and a sample of single planetary systems, both having main-sequence solar-type primary components, are selected in order to compare their eccentricities. The positions of the objects in the…
In some galaxies, the stars orbiting the supermassive black hole take the form of an eccentric nuclear disk, in which every star is on a coherent, apsidally-aligned orbit. The most famous example of an eccentric nuclear disk is the double…
After finding more planets than expected at the shortest period, there has been an effort to explain their numbers by weak tidal friction. However, we find that the strength of tidal dissipation that would produce the occurence distribution…
I present results from the first global hydrodynamical simulations of the elliptical instability in a tidally deformed gaseous planet (or star) with a free surface. The elliptical instability is potentially important for tidal evolution of…
Since 1995, more than 500 extrasolar planets have been discovered orbiting very close to their parent star, where they experience strong tidal interactions. Their orbital evolution depends on the physical mechanisms that cause tidal…
An important class of formation theories for hot Jupiters involves the excitation of extreme orbital eccentricity (e=0.99 or even larger) followed by tidal dissipation at periastron passage that eventually circularizes the planetary orbit…
By analogy with a mechanism proposed by Gold and Soter to explain the retrograde rotation of Venus, Arras and Socrates suggest that thermal tides may excite hot jovian exoplanets into nonsynchronous rotation, and perhaps also noncircular…
Using the Andrade-derived Sundberg-Cooper rheology, we apply several improvements to the secular tidal evolution of TRAPPIST-1e and the early history of Pluto-Charon under the simplifying assumption of homogeneous bodies. By including…
A number of Kepler planet pairs lie just wide of first-order mean motion resonances (MMRs). Tides have been frequently proposed to explain these pileups, but it is still an ongoing discussion. We contribute to this discussion by calculating…
A few studies have reported a significant dearth of exoplanets with Neptune mass and radius with orbital periods below $2$--$4$ d. This cannot be explained by observational biases because many Neptunian planets with longer orbital periods…
A new mechanism for the internal heating of ultra-short-period planets is proposed based on the gravitational perturbation by a non-axisymmetric quadrupole moment of their host stars. Such a quadrupole is due to the magnetic flux tubes in…
Planetary systems discovered by the Kepler space telescope exhibit an intriguing feature. While the period ratios of adjacent low-mass planets appear largely random, there is a significant excess of pairs that lie just wide of resonances…
High eccentricity tidal migration (HEM) is a promising channel for the origins of hot Jupiters and hot Neptunes. In the typical HEM scenario, a planet forms beyond the ice line, but alternatively a planet can disk migrate or form warm and…
We present a new empirical calibration of equilibrium tidal theory for extrasolar planet systems, extending a prior study by incorporating detailed physical models for the internal structure of planets and host stars. The resulting strength…
For extrasolar planets with orbital periods, P>10 days, radial velocity surveys find non-circular orbital eccentricities are common, <e>~0.3. Future surveys for extrasolar planets using the transit technique will also have sensitivity to…
The insolation a planet receives from its parent star is the main driver of the climate and depends on the planet's orbital configuration. Planets with non-zero obliquity and eccentricity experience seasonal insolation variations. As a…
The competition between the torques induced by solid and thermal tides drives the rotational dynamics of Venus-like planets and super-Earths orbiting in the habitable zone of low-mass stars. The tidal responses of the atmosphere and…
In current theories of planet formation, close-orbiting planets as massive as Neptune are expected to be very rare around low-mass stars. We report the discovery of a Neptune-mass planet orbiting the `ultracool' star LHS 3154, which is nine…