Related papers: Reassessing the origin and evolution of Ecliptic C…
The potential existence of a distant planet ("Planet Nine") in the Solar system has prompted a re-think about the evolution of planetary systems. As the Sun transitions from a main sequence star into a white dwarf, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus…
Recent studies of solar system formation suggest that the solar system's giant planets formed and migrated in the protoplanetary disk to reach resonant orbits with all planets inside 15 AU from the Sun. After the gas disk's dispersal,…
Measures of exoplanet bulk densities indicate that small exoplanets with radius less than 3 Earth radii ($R_\oplus$) range from low-density sub-Neptunes containing volatile elements to higher density rocky planets with Earth-like or…
Dynamical mass estimates for the main asteroid belt and the trans-Neptunian Kuiper belt have been found from their gravitational influence on the motion of planets. Discrete rotating models consisting of moving material points have been…
The observed physical clustering of the orbits of small bodies in the distant Kuiper Belt (TNOs) has recently prompted the prediction of an additional planet in the outer solar system. Since the initial posing of the hypothesis, the effects…
This paper reports the discovery and orbital characterization of two extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs), 2016 QV$_{89}$ and 2016 QU$_{89}$, which have orbits that appear similar to that of a previously known object, 2013 UH$_{15}$. All…
Kepler-9 was the first case where transit timing variations have been used to confirm the planets in this system. Following predictions of dramatic TTVs - larger than a week - we re-analyse the system based on the full Kepler data set. We…
Statistical analyses from exoplanet surveys around low-mass stars indicate that super-Earth and Neptune-mass planets are more frequent than gas giants around such stars, in agreement with core accretion theory of planet formation. Using…
The population of the Kuiper Belt within 50 AU of the Sun has likely been severely depleted by gravitational perturbations from the giant planets, particularly Neptune. The density of Kuiper Belt objects is expected to be two orders of…
We report the discovery of a dwarf planet candidate, 2017 OF201, currently located at a distance of 90 au. Its orbit is extremely wide and extends to the inner Oort cloud, with a semi-major axis of 830 au and a perihelion of 45 au,…
The most distant Kuiper belt objects exhibit the clustering in their orbits, and this anomalous architecture could be caused by Planet 9 with large eccentricity and high inclination. We then suppose that the orbital clustering of minor…
(Abridged) In planetary systems with two or more giant planets, dynamical instabilities can lead to collisions or ejections through strong planet--planet scattering. Previous studies for simple initial configurations with two equal-mass…
NASA's Kepler mission identified over 4000 extrasolar planets that transit (cross in front of) their host stars. This sample has revealed detailed features in the demographics of planet sizes and orbital spacings. However, knowledge of…
The limited completeness of the Kepler sample for planets with orbital periods $\gtrsim$ 1 yr leaves open the possibility that exoplanetary systems may host undetected giant planets. Should such planets exist, their dynamical interactions…
We develop an idealized dynamical model to predict the typical properties of outer extrasolar planetary systems, at radii beyond 5 AU. Our hypothesis is that dynamical evolution in outer planetary systems is controlled by a combination of…
The most pristine remnants of the Solar system's planet formation epoch orbit the Sun beyond Neptune, the small bodies of the trans-Neptunian object populations. The bulk of the mass is in ~100 km objects, but objects at smaller sizes have…
We evaluate the dynamical stability of a selection of outer solar system objects in the presence of the proposed new Solar System member Planet Nine. We use a Monte Carlo suite of numerical N-body integrations to construct a variety of…
Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) in the scattered disk with 50 < a < 100 au are thought to cluster near Neptune's n:1 resonances (e.g: 3:1, 4:1, and so on). While these objects spend lengthy periods of time at large heliocentric distances, if…
In the past decade, numerical simulations started to reveal the possible existence of planet 9 in our solar system. The planet 9 scenario can provide an excellent explanation to the clustering in orbital elements for Kuiper Belt objects.…
It is a well-known fact that the presence of a massive perturber interacting with a population of minor bodies following very eccentric orbits can strongly affect the distribution of their nodal distances. The details of this process have…