Related papers: A Search for Transit Duration Variations in M dwar…
We present an analysis of a volume-complete sample of 363 mid-to-late M dwarfs within 15 pc of the Sun with masses between 0.1 and 0.3 M$_\odot$ observed by TESS within Observation Sectors 1 to 42. The median mass of the stars in this…
We present an improved estimate of the occurrence rate of small planets orbiting small stars by searching the full four-year Kepler data set for transiting planets using our own planet detection pipeline and conducting transit injection and…
Transit surveys have revealed a significant population of compact multi-planet systems, containing several sub-Neptune-mass planets on close-in, tightly-packed orbits. These systems are thought to have formed through a final phase of giant…
Transit timing variation (TTV) is a useful tool for studying the orbital properties of transiting objects. However, few TTV studies have been done on transiting brown dwarfs (BDs) around solar-type stars. Here we study the long-term TTV of…
Doppler planet searches have discovered that giant planets follow orbits with a wide range of orbital eccentricities, revolutionizing theories of planet formation. The discovery of hundreds of exoplanet candidates by NASA's Kepler mission…
The recently detected TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, with its seven planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star, offers the first opportunity to perform comparative exoplanetology of temperate Earth-sized worlds. To further advance our…
We report the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovery of three terrestrial-sized planets transiting L 98-59 (TOI-175, TIC 307210830) -- a bright M dwarf at a distance of 10.6 pc. Using the Gaia-measured distance and…
We analyze solutions drawn from the recently published posterior distribution of the TRAPPIST-1 system, which consists of seven Earth-size planets appearing to be in a resonant chain around a red dwarf. We show that all the planets are…
We present ground and space-based photometric observations of TOI-270 (L231-32), a system of three transiting planets consisting of one super-Earth and two sub-Neptunes discovered by TESS around a bright (K-mag=8.25) M3V dwarf. The planets…
It is relatively rare for gas giant planets to have resonant or near-resonant companions, but these systems are particularly useful for constraining planet formation and migration models. In this study, we examine Kepler-1624b, a sub-Saturn…
We present the optical photometric variability of 32 planet-hosting M dwarfs within 25 parsecs over timescales of months to decades. The primary goal of this project, ATLAS -- A Trail to Life Around Stars, is to follow the trail to life by…
Climate modeling has shown that tidally influenced terrestrial exoplanets, particularly those orbiting M-dwarfs, have unique atmospheric dynamics and surface conditions that may enhance their likelihood to host viable habitats. However,…
Studies of T Tauri disks inform planet formation theory; observations of variability due to occultation by circumstellar dust are a useful probe of unresolved, planet-forming inner disks, especially around faint M dwarf stars. We report…
Context. The TRAPPIST-1 system hosts seven Earth-sized, temperate exoplanets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star. As such, it represents a remarkable setting to study the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets that formed in the same…
Early analyses of exoplanet statistics from the Kepler Mission revealed that a model population of multiple-planet systems with low mutual inclinations (${\sim1^{\circ}-2^{\circ}}$) adequately describes the multiple-transiting systems but…
The TRAPPIST-1 system has 7 known terrestrial planets arranged compactly in a mean motion resonant chain around an ultra-cool central star, some within the estimated habitable zone. Given their short orbital periods of just a few days, it…
One longstanding problem for the potential habitability of planets within M dwarf systems is their likelihood to be tidally locked in a synchronously rotating spin state. This problem thus far has largely been addressed only by considering…
M-dwarf stars are the most favorable hosts for detecting small transiting planets, yet mid-to-late M-dwarfs that acquired sufficient TESS multi-sector coverage only through recent Cycle 6+ observations represent a newly accessible discovery…
[ABRIDGED] Since the discovery of the first transiting extrasolar planet, transit timing has been recognized as a powerful method to discover and characterize additional planets in these systems. However, the gravitational influence of…
The TRAPPIST-1 system is comprised of seven Earth-sized rocky planets in small orbits around a Jupiter-sized ultracool dwarf star 12 parsec away. These planets cover an irradiation range similar to the range of the inner solar system. Three…