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Outflows from starburst galaxies can be driven by thermal pressure, radiation and cosmic rays. We present an analytic phenomenological model that accounts for these contributions simultaneously to investigate their effects on the…
We simulate the space environment around AU Microscopii b and the interaction between the magnetized stellar wind with a planetary atmospheric outflow for ambient stellar wind conditions and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) conditions. We also…
Transiting exoplanets provide detailed access to their atmospheres, as the planet's signal can be effectively separated from that of its host star. For transiting exoplanets three fundamental atmospheric measurements are possible:…
Among the many recommendations of the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, we found that a priority area of research is to pave the pathways towards finding and characterizing habitable worlds. In this context, we aim to…
The determination of the abundance of volatiles in extrasolar planets is very important as it can provide constraints on transport in protoplanetary disks and on the formation location of planets. However, constraining the internal…
Exoplanetary transits produce a double-horned color signature that is distinct from both binaries and blends and can thus be used to separate exoplanets from false positives in transit searches. Color photometry with precision sufficient to…
Strong atmospheric escape has been detected in several close-in exoplanets. As these planets consist mostly of hydrogen, observations in hydrogen lines, such as Ly-alpha and H-alpha, are powerful diagnostics of escape. Here, we simulate the…
Determining wavelength-dependent exoplanet radii measurements is an excellent way to probe the composition of exoplanet atmospheres. In light of this, Borsa et al. (2016) sought to develop a technique to obtain such measurements by…
Using a 3D GCM, we create dynamical model atmospheres of a representative transiting giant exoplanet, HD 209458b. We post-process these atmospheres with an opacity code to obtain transit radius spectra during the primary transit. Using a…
Hot Jupiters might reside inside the Alfv\'en surface of their host star wind, where the stellar wind is dominated by magnetic energy. The implications of such a sub-Alfv\'enic environment for atmospheric escape are not fully understood.…
Detecting exoplanet transits at X-ray wavelengths would provide a window into the effects of high energy irradiation on the upper atmospheres of planets. However, stars are relatively dim in the X-ray, making exoplanet transit detections…
Transmission spectroscopy of Earth-like exoplanets is a potential tool for habitability screening. Transiting planets are present-day "Rosetta Stones" for understanding extrasolar planets because they offer the possibility to characterize…
We use Keck/NIRSPEC to survey a sample of of young ($<$1 Gyr), short period mini Neptunes orbiting nearby K dwargs to measure their mass loss via the metastable helium line. We detect helium absorption from all four of the targets in our…
Planets lose mass to atmospheric outflows, and this mass loss is thought to be central in shaping the bimodal population of gaseous giant and rocky terrestrial exoplanets in close orbits. We model the escape of planetary atmospheres in…
Differences in the ingress and egress shapes of transit light curves can indicate morning-evening temperature contrasts on transiting planets. Here, we pinpoint an alternative mechanism that can introduce asymmetries in transit light…
Among the group of extrasolar planets, transiting planets provide a great opportunity to obtain direct measurements for the basic physical properties, such as mass and radius of these objects. These planets are therefore highly important in…
We explore atmospheric escape from close-in exoplanets with the highest mass loss rates. First, we locate the transition from stellar X-ray and UV-driven escape to rapid Roche lobe overflow, which occurs once the 10-100 nbar pressure level…
Stars appear darker at their limbs than at their disk centers because at the limb we are viewing the higher and cooler layers of stellar photospheres. Limb darkening derived from state-of-the-art stellar atmosphere models systematically…
Transits of exoplanets across cool stars contain blended information about structures on the stellar surface and about the planetary body and atmosphere. To advance understanding of how this information is entangled, a surface-flux…
Close-in exoplanets with H/He atmospheres often undergo hydrodynamic escape. In extreme cases, it is hypothesized that the mass loss can be high enough for the escaping planetary material to wrap around the star, forming a long-lasting…