Related papers: Obliquity Constraints for the Extremely Eccentric …
Highly eccentric orbits are one of the major surprises of exoplanets relative to the Solar System and indicate rich and tumultuous dynamical histories. One system of particular interest is Kepler-1656, which hosts a sub-Jovian planet with…
Kepler-1656b is a 5 $R_E$ planet with an orbital period of 32 days initially detected by the prime Kepler mission. We obtained precision radial velocities of Kepler-1656 with Keck/HIRES in order to confirm the planet and to characterize its…
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…
Radial velocity (RV) surveys have discovered giant exoplanets on au-scale orbits with a broad distribution of eccentricities. Those with the most eccentric orbits are valuable laboratories for testing theories of high eccentricity…
Kepler-56 is a multi-planet system containing two coplanar inner planets that are in orbits misaligned with respect to the spin axis of the host star, and an outer planet. Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the broad…
The recent discovery of a number of circumbinary planets lends a new tool to astrophysicists seeking to understand how and where planet formation takes place. Of the increasingly numerous circumbinary systems, Kepler-16 is arguably the most…
Variations in the axial tilt, or obliquity, of terrestrial planets can affect their climates and therefore their habitability. Kepler-62f is a 1.4 R$_\oplus$ planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its K2 dwarf host star (Borucki et…
The nearly circular (mean eccentricity <e>~0.06) and coplanar (mean mutual inclination <i>~3 deg) orbits of the Solar System planets motivated Kant and Laplace to put forth the hypothesis that planets are formed in disks, which has…
We find the orbit of the Neptune-sized exoplanet HAT-P-11b to be highly inclined relative to the equatorial plane of its host star. This conclusion is based on spectroscopic observations of two transits, which allowed the…
We have detected the Rossiter-Mclaughlin effect during a transit of WASP-47b, the only known hot Jupiter with close planetary companions. By combining our spectroscopic observations with Kepler photometry, we show that the projected stellar…
We establish the three-dimensional architecture of the Kepler-419 (previously KOI-1474) system to be eccentric yet with a low mutual inclination. Kepler-419b is a warm Jupiter at semi-major axis a = 0.370 +0.007/-0.006 AU with a large…
Exomoons represent an outstanding challenge in modern astronomy, with the potential to provide rich insights into planet formation theory and habitability. In this work, we stack the phase-folded transits of 284 viable moon hosting Kepler…
Planet obliquity is the alignment or misalignment of a planet spin axis relative to its orbit normal. In a multiplanet system, this obliquity is a valuable signature of planet formation and evolutionary history. The young $\beta$ Pictoris…
The existence of planets orbiting a central binary star system immediately raises questions regarding their formation and dynamical evolution. Recent discoveries of circumbinary planets by the Kepler space telescope has shown that some of…
Over a dozen transiting circumbinary planets have been discovered around eclipsing binaries. Transit detections are biased towards aligned planet and binary orbits, and indeed all of the known planets have mutual inclinations less than…
The Kepler Mission is monitoring the brightness of ~150,000 stars searching for evidence of planetary transits. As part of the "Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler" (HEK) project, we report a planetary system with two confirmed planets and one…
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…
Stars hosting hot Jupiters are often observed to have high obliquities, whereas stars with multiple co-planar planets have been seen to have low obliquities. This has been interpreted as evidence that hot-Jupiter formation is linked to…
A significant fraction of hot Jupiters have orbital axes misaligned with their host stars' spin axes. The large stellar obliquities of these giants have long been considered potential signatures of high-eccentricity migration, which is…
The angle between the spin axis of the host star and the orbit of its planets (i.e., the stellar obliquity) is precious information about the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. Measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect…