Related papers: Born eccentric: constraints on Jupiter and Saturn'…
In the nucleated instability picture of gas giant formation, the final stage is the rapid accretion of a massive gas envelope by a solid core, bringing about a tenfold or more increase in mass. This tends to trigger the scattering of any…
A long-term numerical integration of the classical Newtonian approximation to the planetary orbital motions of the full Solar System (sun + 8 planets), spanning 20 Gyr, was performed. The results showed no severe instability arising over…
We present the first models of Saturn and Jupiter to couple their evolution to both a radiative-atmosphere grid and to high-pressure phase diagrams of hydrogen with helium. The purpose of these models is to quantify the evolutionary effects…
The first discovered extrasolar worlds -- giant, ``hot Jupiter'' planets on short-period orbits -- came as a surprise to solar-system-centric models of planet formation, prompting the development of new theories for planetary system…
In recent years it has coming to light that the early outer Solar System likely might have somewhat more planets than today. However, to date there is unknown what a former giant planet might in fact have represented and where its orbit may…
Recent improvements to GPU hardware and the symplectic N-body code GENGA allow for unprecedented resolution in simulations of planet formation. In this paper, we report results from high-resolution N-body simulations of terrestrial planet…
Seismology applied to giant planets could drastically change our understanding of their deep interiors, as it has happened with the Earth, the Sun, and many main-sequence and evolved stars. The study of giant planets' composition is…
Outer satellites of the planets have distant, eccentric orbits that can be highly inclined or even retrograde relative to the equatorial planes of their planets. These irregular orbits cannot have formed by circumplanetary accretion and are…
Transit surveys have revealed a significant population of compact multi-planet systems, containing several sub-Neptune-mass planets on close-in, tightly-packed orbits. These systems are thought to have formed through a final phase of giant…
The era of outer planet orbiters (Galileo, Juno and Cassini) is advancing our understanding of how the radiation belts of Jupiter and Saturn are structured, form and evolve well beyond what had been possible during the age of flyby missions…
The ejection of planets by the instability of planetary systems is a potential source of free-floating planets. We numerically simulate multi-planet systems to study the evolution process, the properties of surviving systems, and the…
The eccentricity evolution of multiple planet systems can provide valuable constraints on planet formation models. Unfortunately, the inevitable uncertainties in the current orbital elements can lead to significant ambiguities in the nature…
The distribution of spin-orbit angles for systems with wide-separation, tidally detached exoplanets offers a unique constraint on the prevalence of dynamically violent planetary evolution histories. Tidally detached planets provide a…
Modern studies of the early solar system routinely invoke the possibility of an orbital instability among the giant planets triggered by gravitational interactions between the planets and a massive exterior disk of planetesimals. Previous…
Many exoplanets have been observed close to their parent stars with orbital periods of a few days. As for the major satellites of the Jovian planets, the figure of these planets is expected to be strongly shaped by tidal forces. However,…
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,…
Extrasolar planets abound in almost any possible configuration. However, until five years ago, there was a lack of planets orbiting closer than 0.5 au to giant or subgiant stars. Since then, recent detections have started to populated this…
Planetary rings are ubiquitous structure in our Solar System, but their formation mechanisms remain under debate. One of the proposed scenarios is the tidal disruption of a nearby passing body that enters within a planet's Roche limit,…
The Juno mission has revolutionized and challenged our understanding of Jupiter. As Juno transitioned to its extended mission, we review the major findings of Jupiter's internal structure relevant to understanding Jupiter's formation and…
In the study of planetary habitability and terrestrial atmospheric evolution, the divergence of surface conditions for Venus and Earth remains an area of active research. Among the intrinsic and external influences on the Venusian climate…