Related papers: Quantification of Tides in Giant Planets from Obse…
We constructed a 6-degrees of freedom rotational model of Titan as a 3-layer body consisting of a rigid core, a fluid global ocean, and a floating ice shell. The ice shell exhibits partially-compensated lateral thickness variations in order…
The Cassini spacecraft's last orbits directly sampled Saturn's thermosphere and revealed a much more chemically complex environment than previously believed. Observations from the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) aboard Cassini…
The dynamic quadrupole Love number of Titan measured by \Cassini is $k_\mathrm{2,obs}=0.616\pm 0.067$, strongly indicating a global subsurface ocean. However, the theoretical Love number due to equilibrium tides is at most…
Temperate terrestrial planets orbiting low-mass stars are subject to strong tidal forces. The effects of gravitational tides on the solid planet and that of atmospheric thermal tides have been studied, but the direct impact of gravitational…
Tidal dissipation in binary systems is the primary source for synchronization and circularization of the objects in the system. The efficiency of the dissipation of tidal energy inside stars or planets results in significant changes in…
Since 1995, more than 500 extrasolar planets have been discovered orbiting very close to their parent star, where they experience strong tidal interactions. Their orbital evolution depends on the physical mechanisms that cause tidal…
Cassini states correspond to equilibria of the spin axis of a body when its orbit is perturbed. They were initially described for satellites, but the spin axis of stars and planets undergoing strong dissipation can also evolve into some…
This book chapter, Saturn's Polar Atmosphere, is to be published by Cambridge University Press as part of a multi-volume work edited by Kevin Baines, Michael Flasar, Norbert Krupp, and Thomas Stallard, entitled "Saturn in the 21st Century."…
The giant planets of the solar system likely played a large role in shaping the architecture of the terrestrial planets. Using an updated collision model, we conduct a suite of high resolution N-body integrations to probe the relationship…
By surveying new fields for the shortest-period "big" planets, the Kepler spacecraft could provide the statistics to more clearly measure the occurrence distributions of giant and medium planets. This would allow separate determinations for…
The determination of an exoplanet as rocky is critical for the assessment of planetary habitability. Observationally, the number of small-radius, transiting planets with accompanying mass measurements is insufficient for a robust…
Exoplanet searches have discovered a large number of 'hot Jupiters'--high-mass planets orbiting very close to their parent stars in nearly circular orbits. A number of these planets are sufficiently massive and close-in to be significantly…
Over the past decade the study of solar-like oscillations in red-giant stars has developed significantly. Not only the number of red-giant stars for which solar-like oscillations have been observed has increased, but the quality of these…
Two planets with orbital period ratio approximately 10:1 have been discovered around the star HD 83443. The inner and more massive planet, HD 83443b, has the smallest semi-major axis among all currently known exoplanets. Unlike other short…
Layered semi-convection is a possible candidate to explain Saturn's luminosity excess and the abnormally large radius of some hot Jupiters. In giant planet interiors, it could lead to the creation of density staircases, which are convective…
Earth-like planets have viscoelastic mantles, whereas giant planets may have viscoelastic cores. The tidal dissipation of such solid regions, gravitationally perturbed by a companion body, highly depends on their rheology and on the tidal…
Revealing the true nature of the gas giant planets in our Solar System is challenging. The masses of Jupiter and Saturn are about 318 and 95 Earth masses, respectively. While they mostly consist of hydrogen and helium, the total mass and…
Context. With the detection of thousands of exoplanets, characterising their dynamical evolution in detail represents a key step in the understanding of their formation. Studying the dissipation of tides occurring both in the host star and…
Circumbinary planets (CBPs) currently identified are in nearly coplanar configurations relative to their host binaries, yet the dynamical origin of this preference remains unclear. We investigate this question by simulating the secular…
Improvements in the number of confirmed planets and the precision of observations imply a need to better understand subtle effects that may bias interpretations of exoplanet observations. One such effect is the distortion of a short period…