Related papers: Failed Oort Clouds and Planetary Migration
Exoplanets are typically thought to form in protoplanetary disks left over from protostellar disk of their newly formed host star. However, additional planetary formation and evolution routes may exist in old evolved binary systems. Here we…
The present dynamical configuration of planets in binary star systems may not reflect their formation process since the binary orbit may have changed in the past after the planet formation process was completed. An observed binary system…
It is often assumed that the "Kepler dichotomy" -- the apparent excess of planetary systems with a single detected transiting planet in the Kepler catalog -- reflects an intrinsic bimodality in the mutual inclinations of planetary orbits.…
We propose that interstellar extreme scattering events, usually observed as pulsar scintillations, may be caused by a coherent agent rather than the usually assumed turbulence of $\rm H_2$ clouds. We find that the penetration of a flux of…
We review the evolution of our understanding of the planetary nebulae phenomenon and their place in the scheme of stellar evolution. The historical steps leading to our current understanding of central star evolution and nebular formation…
The absolute magnitude and perihelion distributions of long-period comets are derived, using data from the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey. The results are surprising in three ways. Firstly, the flux of comets through…
Star formation is a fundamental process for galactic evolution. One issue over the last several decades has been determining whether star formation is induced by external triggers or is self-regulated in a closed system. The role of an…
We demonstrate that the observationally inferred rapid onset of star formation after parental molecular clouds have assembled can be achieved by flow-driven cloud formation of atomic gas, using our previous three-dimensional numerical…
Main-sequence stars earlier than spectral type ~F6 or so are expected to rotate rapidly due to their radiative exteriors. This rapid rotation leads to an oblate stellar figure. It also induces the photosphere to be hotter (by up to several…
The recent discovery of Jupiter-mass planets orbiting at a few AU from their stars compliments earlier detections of massive planets on very small orbits. The short period orbits strongly suggest that planet migration has occurred, with the…
Semi-analytic models of galaxy formation typically form the spheroidal components of galaxies ("bulges"), solely through galactic major mergers. However, it is possible that non-merger events (e.g. a "fly-by" by a smaller halo) can perturb…
We examine the stability of a low-mass stellar system surrounding a massive central object. Examples of such systems include the centers of galaxies or star clusters containing a massive black hole, and the Oort comet cloud. If the…
The origin of the highly eccentric, inclined, and resonance-locked orbit of Pluto has long been a puzzle. A possible explanation has been proposed recently [Malhotra, R., {\it Nature} 365:819-21 (1993)] which suggests that these…
A subgroup of dwarf galaxies have characteristics of a possible evolutionary transition between star-forming systems and dwarf ellipticals. These systems host significant starbursts in combination with smooth, elliptical outer envelopes and…
In this letter we consider the evolution of a planetary system around a star inside a wide binary. We simulate numerically the evolution of the planetary orbits for both co-planar and highly-inclined systems. We find that the Kozai…
The recent discovery of binary objects in the Kuiper-belt opens an invaluable window into past and present conditions in the trans-Neptunian part of the Solar System. For example, knowledge of how these objects formed can be used to impose…
Many planets are observed in stellar binary systems, and their frequency may be comparable to that of planetary systems around single stars. Binary stellar evolution in such systems influences the dynamical evolution of the resident…
The late stages of stellar evolution from asymptotic giant branch stars to planetary nebulae are now known to be an active phase of molecular synthesis. Over 80 gas-phase molecules have been detected through rotational transitions in the…
We show that stability of planetary systems is intimately connected with their internal order. An arbitrary initial distribution of planets is susceptible to catastrophic events in which planets either collide or are ejected from the…
Stellar migration, whether due to trapping by transient spirals (churning), or to scattering by non-axisymmetric perturbations, has been proposed to explain the presence of stars in outer disks. After a review of the basic theory, we…