Related papers: Planetary Engulfment Prognosis within the $\rho$ C…
The presence of a close, low-mass companion is thought to play a substantial and perhaps necessary role in shaping post-Asymptotic Giant Branch and Planetary Nebula outflows. During post-main-sequence evolution, radial expansion of the…
Nearly half of the exoplanets found within binary star systems reside in very wide binaries with average stellar separations beyond 1,000 AU (1 AU being the Earth-Sun distance), yet the influence of such distant binary companions on…
Nearly every star known to host planets will become a white dwarf, and nearly 100 planet-hosts are now known to be accompanied by binary stellar companions. Here, we determine how a binary companion triggers instability in otherwise…
About 5-15% of stellar systems are at least triple. About 1% of systems with a primary of $\tgs 1 \Mscun$ are triple with a {\it longer} peri od that is less than 30y, and so may in principle be capable of Roche-lobe overflow in both the…
The late phases of the orbital evolution of an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like star are revisited considering the effect of the density fluctuations associated with convective motions inside the star. Such fluctuations produce a random…
Based on the large number of elliptical planetary nebulae I argue that about 55 per cent of all progenitors of planetary nebulae have planets around them. The planets spin up the stars when the later evolve along the red giant branch or…
Previous investigations have revealed that eccentric super-Earths represent a class of planets which are particularly effective at transporting minor bodies towards white dwarfs and subsequently polluting their atmospheres with observable…
Practically all known planet hosts will evolve into white dwarfs, and large parts of their planetary systems will survive this transition - the same is true for the solar system beyond the orbit of Mars. Spectroscopy of white dwarfs…
Infrared studies have revealed debris likely related to planet formation in orbit around ~30% of youthful, intermediate mass, main sequence stars. We present evidence, based on atmospheric pollution by various elements heavier than helium,…
Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the solar system, most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into white dwarfs. During the red giant phase, any close-orbiting planets will be…
Accretion of planetary material onto host stars may occur throughout a star's life. Especially prone to accretion, extrasolar planets in short-period orbits, while relatively rare, constitute a significant fraction of the known population,…
Validated planet candidates need not lie on long-term stable orbits, and instability triggered by post-main-sequence stellar evolution can generate architectures which transport rocky material to white dwarfs, polluting them. The giant…
We study the evolution of six exoplanetary systems with the stellar evolutionary code MESA and conclude that they will likely spin-up the envelope of their parent stars on the red giant branch (RGB) or later on the asymptotic giant branch…
The evolution of planetary systems is intimately linked to the evolution of their host star. Our understanding of the whole planetary evolution process is based on the large planet diversity observed so far. To date, only few tens of…
Understanding the formation, evolution, and chemical diversity of exoplanets are now central areas of astrophysics research. White dwarfs provide a uniquely sensitive laboratory for studying the end stages of planetary-system evolution and…
In compact stellar triple systems, an evolved tertiary star can overflow its Roche lobe around the inner binary. Subsequently, the tertiary star can transfer mass to the inner binary in a stable manner, or Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) can be…
We simulate the coupled stellar and tidal evolution of short-period binary stars (orbital period $P_{orb} \lsim$8 days) to investigate the orbital oscillations, instellation cycles, and orbital stability of circumbinary planets (CBPs). We…
When main-sequence stars expand into red giants, they are expected to engulf close-in planets. Until now, the absence of planets with short orbital periods around post-expansion, core-helium-burning red giants has been interpreted as…
In most extrasolar planetary systems, the present orbits of known giant planets admit the existence of stable terrestrial planets. Those same giant planets, however, have typically eccentric orbits that hint at violent early dynamics less…
The size distribution and orbital architecture of dust, grains, boulders, asteroids, and major planets during the giant branch phases of evolution dictate the preponderance and observability of the eventual debris, which have been found to…