Related papers: Comparison Between Extrasolar Planets and Low-Mass…
Gravitational scattering between massive planets has been invoked to explain the eccentricity distribution of extrasolar planets. For scattering to occur, the planets must either form in -- or migrate into -- an unstable configuration. In…
The field of exoplanetary science has experienced a recent surge of new systems that is largely due to the precision photometry provided by the Kepler mission. The latest discoveries have included compact planetary systems in which the…
In this short review, we summarize our present understanding (and non-understanding) of exoplanet formation, structure and evolution, in the light of the most recent discoveries. Recent observations of transiting massive brown dwarfs seem…
The difference in formation process between binary stars and planetary systems is reflected in their composition as well as their orbital architecture, particularly orbital eccentricity as a function of orbital period. It is suggested here…
Precise Doppler searches for extrasolar planets find a surfeit of planets with orbital periods of 3-4 days, and no planets with orbital periods less than 3 days. The circumstellar distance, R_0, where small grains in a protoplanetary disk…
The search for life outside of the Solar System should not be restricted to exclusively planetary bodies; large moons of extrasolar planets may also be common habitable environments throughout the Galaxy. Extrasolar moons, or exomoons, may…
The orbital elements of extreme mass ratio binaries will be modified by interactions with surrounding circumstellar disks. For brown dwarf companions to Solar-type stars the resulting orbital migration is sufficient to drive short period…
The diversity and quantity of moons in the Solar System suggest a manifold population of natural satellites exist around extrasolar planets. Of peculiar interest from an astrobiological perspective, the number of sizable moons in the…
One notable example of exoplanet diversity is the population of circumbinary planets, which orbit around both stars of a binary star system. There are so far only 16 known circumbinary exoplanets, all of which lie in the same orbital plane…
In this paper we review the recent discovery of several millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in eccentric binary systems. Timing these MSPs we were able to estimate (and in one case precisely measure) their masses. These results suggest that, as a…
We describe an astrometric and spectroscopic campaign to confirm the youth and association of a complete sample of candidate wide companions in Taurus and Upper Sco. Our survey found fifteen new binary systems (3 in Taurus and 12 in Upper…
Many recent observational studies have concluded that planetary systems commonly exist in multiple-star systems. At least ~20% of the known extrasolar planetary systems are associated with one or more stellar companions. The orbits of…
We explore the impact of outer stellar companions on the occurrence rate of giant planets detected with radial velocities. We searched for stellar and planetary companions to a volume-limited sample of solar-type stars within 25 pc. Using…
A simple question of celestial mechanics is investigated: in what regions of phase space near a binary system can planets persist for long times? The planets are taken to be test particles moving in the field of an eccentric binary system.…
Over a hundred rocky planets orbiting Sun-like stars in very short orbital periods (<1 day) have been discovered by the Kepler mission. These planets, known as ultra-short-period (USP) planets, are unlikely to have attained their orbits in…
We investigate the evaporation history of known transiting exoplanets in order to consider the origin of observed correlations between mass, surface gravity and orbital period. We show that the survival of the known planets at their current…
We studied 93 asteroid pairs. We estimated times elapsed since separation of pair members that are between 7*10^3 and a few 10^6 yr. We derived the rotation periods for all the primaries and a sample of secondaries. We derived the absolute…
Binary systems are very common among field stars. While this relatively small number of planets in binaries is probably partly due to strong observational biases, there is, however, statistical evidence that planets are indeed less frequent…
Roughly half of Solar-type planet hosts have stellar companions, so understanding how these binary companions affect the formation and evolution of planets is an important component to understanding planetary systems overall. Measuring the…
The long-term habitability of Earth-like planets requires low orbital eccentricities. A secular perturbation from a distant stellar companion is a very important mechanism in exciting planetary eccentricities, as many of the extrasolar…