Related papers: Quantitative Criteria for Defining Planets
Ecosystems are commonly conceptualized as networks of interacting species. However, partitioning natural diversity of organisms into discrete units is notoriously problematic, and mounting experimental evidence raises the intriguing…
Precise and, if possible, accurate characterization of exoplanets cannot be dissociated from the characterization of their host stars. In this chapter we discuss different methods and techniques used to derive fundamental properties and…
Rigorously quantifying the information in high contrast imaging data is important for informing follow-up strategies to confirm the substellar nature of a point source, constraining theoretical models of planet-disk interactions, and…
In this paper we present a re-analysis of the criteria used to characterize the Peimbert classes I, IIa, IIb, III and IV, through a statistical study of a large sample of planetary nebulae previously classified according to these groups. In…
The basic geometry of the Solar System -- the shapes, spacings, and orientations of the planetary orbits -- has long been a subject of fascination as well as inspiration for planet formation theories. For exoplanetary systems, those same…
Multi-planetary systems are prevalent in our Galaxy. The long-term stability of such systems may be disrupted if a distant inclined companion excites the eccentricity and inclination of the inner planets via the eccentric Kozai-Lidov…
Detection and orbit determination for thousands of planets with periods up to about 40 years would be obtained by astrometry from two Gaia-like missions, results which cannot be obtained by any other mission, planned or proposed. A billion…
This article relates two topics of central importance in modern astronomy - the discovery some fifteen years ago of the first planets around other stars (exoplanets), and the centuries-old problem of understanding the origin of our own…
In this paper, we investigate whether hypothetical Earth-like planets have high probability of remaining on stable orbits inside the habitable zones around the stars A and B of {\alpha} Centauri, for lengths of time compatible with the…
This chapter reviews the current state of observational and theoretical efforts in the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres, with a focus on developments enabled through the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR)…
The two dominant features in the distribution of orbital parameters for close-in exoplanets are the prevalence of circular orbits for very short periods, and the observation that planets on closer orbits tend to be heavier. The first…
Major (exo)planetary and satellite bodies seem to concentrate at intermediate areas of the radial distributions of all the objects present in each (sub)system. We prove rigorously that the secular evolution of (exo)planets and satellites…
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. Here we study the onset of instability for an Earth-type planet that is…
The increasing number and variety of extrasolar planets illustrates the importance of characterizing planetary perturbations. Planetary orbits are typically described by physically intuitive orbital elements. Here, we explicitly express the…
Recent analysis of the Doppler shift oscillations of the light from extra-solar planetary systems indicate that some of these systems have more than one large planet. In this case it has been shown that the masses of these planets can be…
The study of extrasolar planets and of the Solar System provides complementary pieces of the mosaic represented by the process of planetary formation. Exoplanets are essential to fully grasp the huge diversity of outcomes that planetary…
Astronomers commonly quote the properties of celestial objects in units of parameters for the Sun, Jupiter, or the Earth. The resolution presented here was proposed by the IAU Inter-Division Working Group on Nominal Units for Stellar and…
The terrestrial and gas-giant planets in our solar system may represent some prototypes for planets around other stars; the exoplanets because most stars have similar overall elemental abundances as our sun. The solar system planets…
Estimating the effect binarity can have on planet-formation is of crucial importance, as almost half of field stars reside in multiple systems. One effective way to assess this effect is to get an accurate picture of the population of…
Static structure models, which map mass-radius constraints to bulk planet composition, are frequently used to categorise exoplanets due to their computational efficiency and the high-level insight they offer into planetary properties.…