Related papers: "Popcorn Planets" are Not Actively Inflated by Ecc…
Observations have shown that planets similar to Neptune are rarely found orbiting Sun-like stars with periods up to ~4 days, defining the so-called Neptune desert region. Therefore, the detection of each individual planet in this region…
Simulations predict that hot super-Earth sized exoplanets can have their envelopes stripped by photo-evaporation, which would present itself as a lack of these exoplanets. However, this absence in the exoplanet population has escaped a firm…
We report the discovery of two transiting planets around the bright ($V=9.9$ mag) main sequence F7 star TOI-1670 by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. TOI-1670 b is a sub-Neptune ($R_\mathrm{b} = 2.06_{-0.15}^{+0.19}$ $R_\oplus$) on…
We examine the distributions of eccentricity and host star metallicity of exoplanets as a function of their mass. Planets with M sin i >~ 4 M_J have an eccentricity distribution consistent with that of binary stars, while planets with M sin…
[Abridged] A key hypothesis in the field of exoplanet atmospheres is the trend of atmospheric thermal structure with planetary equilibrium temperature. We explore this trend and report here the first statistical detection of a transition in…
WASP-107b is a warm (~740 K) transiting planet with a Neptune-like mass of ~30.5 Earth masses and Jupiter-like radius of ~0.94 Jupiter radius, whose extended atmosphere is eroding. Previous observations showed evidence for water vapour and…
We report the discovery of four new hot Jupiters with the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). NGTS-15b, NGTS-16b, NGTS-17b, and NGTS-18b are short-period ($P<5$d) planets orbiting G-type main sequence stars, with radii and masses between…
LP 791-18 d is a temperate Earth-sized planet orbiting a late M dwarf, surrounded by an interior super-Earth (LP 791-18 b, $R_P$ = 1.2 $R_{\oplus}$, $P=0.95$ days) and an exterior sub-Neptune (LP 791-18 c, $R_P$ = 2.5 $R_{\oplus}$, $P=4.99$…
Eccentric exoplanets offer an opportunity to study the response of an atmosphere to changing thermal forcing and the robustness of the super-rotating equatorial jet seen on tidally locked hot Jupiters. However, the atmospheric dynamics on…
We provide evidence that the obliquities of stars with close-in giant planets were initially nearly random, and that the low obliquities that are often observed are a consequence of star-planet tidal interactions. The evidence is based on…
Hot Jupiters are typically considered to be tidally locked due to their short orbital periods. The extreme irradiation can result in atmospheric species becoming thermally ionized on the dayside, which then interact with the planet's…
In the Solar System giant planets come in two flavours: 'gas giants' (Jupiter and Saturn) with massive gas envelopes and 'ice giants' (Uranus and Neptune) with much thinner envelopes around their cores. It is poorly understood how these two…
Observations have revealed that a significant number of hot Jupiters have anomalously large radii. Layered convection induced by compositional inhomogeneity has been proposed to account for the radius anomaly of hot Jupiters. To reexamine…
Orbits of known extrasolar planets that are located outside the tidal circularization regions of their parent stars are often substantially eccentric. By contrast, planetary orbits in our Solar System are approximately circular, reflecting…
A new mechanism for the internal heating of ultra-short-period planets is proposed based on the gravitational perturbation by a non-axisymmetric quadrupole moment of their host stars. Such a quadrupole is due to the magnetic flux tubes in…
Context: Radius and mass measurements of short-period giant planets reveal that many of these planets contain a large amount of heavy elements, in sharp contrast with the expectations of the conventional core-accretion model for the origin…
We show that stars with transiting planets for which the stellar obliquity is large are preferentially hot (T_eff > 6250 K). This could explain why small obliquities were observed in the earliest measurements, which focused on relatively…
The primordial structure of Jupiter remains uncertain, yet it holds vital clues on the planet's formation and early evolution. Recent work used dynamical constraints from Jupiter's inner moons to determine its primordial state, thereby…
Low-mass eclipsing binaries show systematically larger radii than model predictions for their mass, metallicity and age. Prominent explanations for the inflation involve enhanced magnetic fields generated by rapid rotation of the star that…
A fundamental question in the study of planetary system demographics is: how common is the solar system architecture? The primary importance of this question lies in the potential of planetary systems to create habitable environments, and…