Related papers: Evidence for Misalignment Between Debris Disks and…
Stellar spin-orbit misalignments (obliquities) in hot Jupiter systems have been extensively probed. Such obliquities may reveal clues about hot Jupiter dynamical histories. Common explanations for generating obliquities include…
We measure the sky-projected stellar obliquities (\lambda) in the multiple-transiting planetary systems KOI-94 and Kepler-25, using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. In both cases the host stars are well-aligned with the orbital planes of the…
Spitzer images resolve the debris disk around \gamma Ophiuchi at both 24 and 70 um. The resolved images suggest a disk radius of ~520 AU at 70 um and >=260 AU at 24 um. The images, along with a consistent fit to the spectral energy…
We present a test for spin-orbit alignment for the host stars of 25 candidate planetary systems detected by the {\it Kepler} spacecraft. The inclination angle of each star's rotation axis was estimated from its rotation period, rotational…
The gas from which stars form is magnetized, and strong magnetic fields can efficiently transport angular momentum. Most theoretical models of this phenomenon find that it should prevent formation of large (>100 AU), rotationally-supported…
The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect allows us to measure the projected stellar obliquity of exoplanets. From the spin-orbit alignment, planet formation and migration theories can be tested to improve our understanding of the currently observed…
We have bandmerged candidate transiting planetary systems (from the Kepler satellite) and confirmed transiting planetary systems (from the literature) with the recent Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) preliminary release catalog.…
Two magnetic braking models are implemented in MESA for use in the MIST stellar model grids. Stars less than about 1.3 $M_{\odot}$ are observed to spin down over time through interaction with their magnetized stellar winds (i.e., magnetic…
Recent observations have shown that in many exoplanetary systems the spin axis of the parent star is misaligned with the planet's orbital axis. These have been used to argue against the scenario that short-period planets migrated to their…
Misalignments between planetary orbits and the equatorial planes of their host stars are clues about the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Earlier work found evidence for a peak near $90^\circ$ in the distribution of stellar…
Observations of circumstellar disks provide a powerful tool for our understanding of planetary systems dynamics. Analogs to the Solar System asteroid belts, debris disks result from the collision of the remaining solid material of the…
We present resolved Herschel images of a circumbinary debris disk in the 99 Herculis system. The primary is a late F-type star. The binary orbit is well characterised and we conclude that the disk is misaligned with the binary plane. Two…
Since giant planets scatter planetesimals within a few tidal radii of their orbits, the locations of existing planetesimal belts indicate regions where giant planet formation failed in bygone protostellar disks. Infrared observations of…
Dippers are a common class of young variable star exhibiting day-long dimmings with depths of up to several tens of percent. A standard explanation is that dippers host nearly edge-on (70 deg) protoplanetary discs that allow close-in (< 1…
Debris disks have been found primarily around intermediate and solar mass stars (spectral types A-K) but rarely around low mass M-type stars. We have spatially resolved a debris disk around the remarkable M3-type star GJ581 hosting multiple…
Debris disks or exo-Kuiper belts, detected through their thermal or scattered emission from their dusty components, are ubiquitous around main-sequence stars. Since dust grains are short-lived, their sustained presence is thought to require…
Giant, wide-separation planets often lie in the gap between multiple, distinct rings of circumstellar debris: this is the case for the HR\,8799 and HD\,95086 systems, and even the solar system where the Asteroid and Kuiper belts enclose the…
Infrared spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope (SSC) of many debris disks are well fit with a single black body temperature which suggest clearings within the disk. We assume that inside the clearing orbital instability due to planets…
We present the rotation velocities V and velocity dispersions sigma along the principal axes of seven elliptical galaxies less luminous than M_B= -19.5. These kinematics extend beyond the half-light radii for all systems in this…
Stars form in dense cores of molecular clouds that are observed to be significantly magnetized. In the simplest case of a laminar (non-turbulent) core with the magnetic field aligned with the rotation axis, both analytic considerations and…