Related papers: Low Spin-Axis Variations of Circumbinary Planets
A widely considered characteristic of extra-solar planetary systems has been a seeming tendency for major axes of adjacent orbits to librate in stable configurations. Based on a new catalog of extra-solar planets (Butler et al. 2006) and…
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…
The long-term habitability of Earth-like planets requires low orbital eccentricities. A secular perturbation from a distant stellar companion is a very important mechanism in exciting planetary eccentricities, as many of the extrasolar…
Many planets are observed in stellar binary systems, and their frequency may be comparable to that of planetary systems around single stars. Binary stellar evolution in such systems influences the dynamical evolution of the resident…
Sub-Jupiter classed circumbinary planets discovered in close-in binary systems have orbits just beyond the dynamically unstable region, which is determined by the eccentricity and mass ratio of the host binary stars. These planets are…
We analyze a tilt instability of the orbit of an outer planet in a two planet circumbinary system that we recently reported. The binary is on an eccentric orbit and the inner circumbinary planet is on a circular polar orbit that causes the…
Many binary minor planets (BMPs; both binary asteroids and binary Trans-Neptunians objects; TNOs) are known to exist in the Solar system. The currently observed orbital and physical properties of BMPs hold essential information and clues…
Stars in short-period binaries typically have spins that are aligned and synchronized with the orbit of their companion. In triple systems, however, the combination of spin and orbital precession can cause the star's rotation to evolve to a…
We report a mechanism capable of reducing (or increasing) stellar activity in binary stars, thereby potentially enhancing (or destroying) circumbinary habitability. In single stars, stellar aggression towards planetary atmospheres causes…
Most of the planetary systems discovered around binary stars are located at approximately three semi-major axes from the barycentre of their system, curiously close to low-order mean-motion resonances (MMRs). The formation mechanism of…
About half of all known stellar systems with Sun-like stars consist of two or more stars, significantly affecting the orbital stability of any planet in these systems. This observational evidence has prompted a large array of theoretical…
We study orbital inclination changes associated with the precession of a disc-planet system that occurs through gravitational interaction with a binary companion on an inclined orbit. We investigate whether this scenario can account for…
The present dynamical configuration of planets in binary star systems may not reflect their formation process since the binary orbit may have changed in the past after the planet formation process was completed. An observed binary system…
Obliquity variability could play an important role in the climate and habitability of a planet. Orbital modulations caused by planetary companions and the planet's spin axis precession due to the torque from the host star may lead to…
Multi-planet systems detected until now are in most cases characterized by hot-Jupiters close to their central star as well as high eccentricities. As a consequence, from a dynamical point of view, compact multi-planetary systems form a…
One of the characteristic features of low-mass stars is their propensity to shed large amounts of angular momentum throughout their evolution. This distinguishs them from brown dwarfs which remain fast rotators over timescales of gigayears.…
The radial velocity method for detecting extra-solar planets relies on measuring the star's wobble around the system's center of mass. Since this is an indirect method, we may ask if there are other dynamical effects that can mimic such…
Extrasolar circumbinary planets are so called because they orbit two stars instead of just one; to date, an increasing number of such planets have been discovered with a variety of techniques. If the orbital frequency of the hosting stellar…
The stellar spin orientation relative to the orbital planes of multiplanet systems are becoming accessible to observations. For example, 55 Cancri is a system composed of 5 planets orbiting a member of a stellar binary for which a projected…
Cassini states correspond to equilibria of the spin axis of a body when its orbit is perturbed. They were initially described for satellites, but the spin axis of stars and planets undergoing strong dissipation can also evolve into some…