Related papers: Stellar activity and transits
The next generation of exoplanet space photometry missions proposed by both NASA and ESA promise to discover small transiting planets around the nearest and brightest main-sequence stars. The physical and rotational properties of these…
When extrasolar planets are observed to transit their parent stars, we are granted unprecedented access to their physical properties. It is only for transiting planets that we are permitted direct estimates of the planetary masses and…
Planets interact with their host stars through gravity, radiation and magnetic fields, and for those giant planets that orbit their stars within ~10 stellar radii (~0.1 AU for a sun-like star), star-planet interactions (SPI) are observable…
A breakthrough in exoplanet detections is foreseen with the unprecedented astrometric measurement capabilities offered by instrumentation aboard Gaia space observatory. Besides, astrometric discoveries of exoplanets are expected from the…
A reasonable basis for future astronomical investigations of exoplanets lies in our best knowledge of the planets and satellites in the Solar System. Solar System bodies exhibit a wide variety of surface environments, even including…
Transiting extrasolar planets provide an opportunity to study the mass-radius relation of planets as well as their internal structure. The existence of a secondary eclipse enables further study of the thermal properties of the the planet by…
Context. Stellar activity consists of different phenomena, mainly spots and faculae, and it is one of the main sources of noise in exoplanetary observations because it affects both spectroscopic and photometric observations. If we want to…
Technological advances in instrumentation have led to an exponential increase in exoplanet detection and scrutiny of stellar features such as spots and faculae. While the spots and faculae enable us to understand the stellar dynamics,…
Transiting exoplanets orbiting active stars frequently occult starspots and faculae on the visible stellar disc. Such occultations are often rejected from spectrophotometric transits, as it is assumed they do not contain relevant…
The impact of rotation on the properties of low-mass stars at different evolutionary stages is first described by discussing the properties of stellar models computed with shellular rotation. The observational constraints that are currently…
Existing upper limits on variations in the photospheric radius of the Sun during the solar magnetic activity cycle are at a fractional amplitude of 2x10^{-4}. At that level, the transit duration of a close-in planet around a Sun-like star…
We recommend an intensive effort to survey and understand the obliquity distribution of small close-in extrasolar planets over the coming decade. The orbital obliquities of exoplanets--i.e., the relative orientation between the planetary…
Do extrasolar planets affect the activity of their host stars? Indications for chromospheric activity enhancement have been found for a handful of targets, but in the X-ray regime, conclusive observational evidence is still missing. We want…
Interstellar radar is a potential intermediate step between passive observation of exoplanets and interstellar exploratory missions. Compared to passive observation, it has the traditional advantages of radar astronomy. It can measure…
Much effort has been invested in recent years, both observationally and theoretically, to understand the interacting processes taking place in planetary systems consisting of a hot Jupiter orbiting its star within 10 stellar radii. Several…
Planetary transits provide a unique opportunity to investigate the surface distributions of star spots. Our aim is to determine if, with continuous observation (such as the data that will be provided by the Kepler mission), we can in…
Spectrophotometric stability, which is crucial in the spectral characterization of transiting exoplanets, is affected by photometric variations arising from field-stop loss in space telescopes with pointing jitter or primary mirror…
Exoplanet detection with precise radial velocity (RV) observations is currently limited by spurious RV signals introduced by stellar activity. We show that machine learning techniques such as linear regression and neural networks can…
Precise exoplanet characterization requires precise classification of exoplanet host stars. The masses of host stars are commonly estimated by comparing their spectra to those predicted by stellar evolution models. However,…
Rotation has a number of important effects on the evolution of stars. Apart from structural changes because of the centrifugal force, turbulent mixing and meridional circulation caused by rotation can dramatically affect a star's chemical…