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From the numerous detected planets outside the Solar system, no terrestrial planet comparable to our Earth has been discovered so far. The search for an Exo-Earth is certainly a big challenge which may require the detections of planetary…
Ocean worlds are prevalent in the solar system. Focusing on Enceladus, Titan, Europa, and Ganymede, I use rotating convection theory and numerical simulations to predict ocean currents and the potential for ice-ocean coupling. When the…
More than two dozen short-period Jupiter-mass gas giant planets have been discovered around nearby solar-type stars in recent years, several of which undergo transits, making them ideal for the detection and characterization of their…
The ongoing NASA's Juno mission puts new constraints on the internal dynamics of Jupiter. Data gathered by its onboard magnetometer reveal a dipole-dominated surface magnetic field accompanied by strong localised magnetic flux patches. The…
As we continue to discover terrestrial exoplanets, many with orbital and planetary characteristics drastically different from anything encountered in our solar system, we are likely to encounter 'exotic' atmospheric transport processes. As…
We investigate the orbital evolution of planetesimals in the inner disk in the presence of nebula gas and a (proto-) cold Jupiter. By varying the mass, eccentricity, and semi-major axis of the planet, we study the dependence of the relative…
Atmospheric escape of close-in exoplanets can be driven by high energy radiation from the host star. The planetary outflows interacting with the stellar wind may generate observable transit signals that depend on the strength of the stellar…
The eddy fluxes of angular momentum in Jupiter's upper troposphere are known to converge in prograde jets and diverge in retrograde jets. Away from the equator, this implies convergence of the Eulerian mean meridional flow in zones…
Jupiter's zonal jets and Great Red Spot are well known from still images. Yet the planet's atmosphere is highly unsteady, which suggests that the actual material transport barriers delineating its main features should be time-dependent.…
Uranus and Neptune share properties that are distinct from the other giant planets in the solar system, but they are also distinct from one another, particularly in their relative internal heat flux. Not only does Neptune emit about ten…
Surface observations indicate that the speed of the solar meridional circulation in the photosphere varies in anti-phase with the solar cycle. The current explanation for the source of this variation is that inflows into active regions…
The influence of the basic rotation on anisotropic and inhomogeneous turbulence is discussed in the context of differential rotation theory. An improved representation for the original turbulence leads to a $\Lam$-effect which complies with…
We present a three dimensional hot Jupiter model, extending from 200 bar to 1 mbar, using the Intermediate General Circulation Model from the University of Reading. Our horizontal spectral resolution is T31 (equivalent to a grid of 48x96),…
Saturn's diffuse E ring consists of many tiny (micron and sub-micron) grains of water ice distributed between the orbits of Mimas and Titan. Various gravitational and non-gravitational forces perturb these particles' orbits, causing the…
Saturn's northern summertime hemisphere was mapped by JWST/MIRI (4.9-27.9 $\mu$m) in November 2022, tracing the seasonal evolution of temperatures, aerosols, and chemical species in the five years since the end of the Cassini mission. The…
Planetary rotation rate is a key parameter in determining atmospheric circulation and hence the spatial pattern of clouds. Since clouds can exert a dominant control on planetary radiation balance, rotation rate could be critical for…
We carry out a series of high resolution ($1024\times 1024$) hydrodynamical simulations to investigate the orbital evolution of Jupiter and Saturn embedded in a gaseous protostellar disk. Our work extends the results in the classical papers…
There have been many proposed explanations for the larger-than-expected radii of some transiting hot Jupiters, including either stellar or orbital energy deposition deep in the atmosphere or deep in the interior. In this paper, we explore…
Infrared lightcurves of transiting hot Jupiters present a trend in which the atmospheres of the hottest planets are less efficient at redistributing the stellar energy absorbed on their daysides---and thus have a larger day-night…
The determination of Saturn's atmospheric noble gas abundances are critical to understanding the formation and evolution of Saturn, and giant planets in general. These measurements can only be performed with an entry probe. A Saturn probe…