Related papers: The Formation of Close Binary Systems by Dynamical…
At least 10-15% of nearby sun-like stars have known Jupiter-mass planets. In contrast, very few planets are found in mature open and globular clusters such as the Hyades and 47 Tuc. We explore here the possibility that this dichotomy is due…
Most stars are born in clusters and the resulting gravitational interactions between cluster members may significantly affect the evolution of circumstellar discs and therefore the formation of planets and brown dwarfs. Recent findings…
Using state-of-the-art dynamical simulations of globular clusters, including radiation reaction during black hole encounters and a cosmological model of star cluster formation, we create a realistic population of dynamically-formed binary…
Asteroid pairs sharing similar heliocentric orbits were found recently. Backward integrations of their orbits indicated that they separated gently with low relative velocities, but did not provide additional insight into their formation…
Many astrophysical environments, from star clusters and globular clusters to the disks of Active Galactic Nuclei, are characterized by frequent interactions between stars and the compact objects that they leave behind. Here, using a suite…
We study dynamical interactions of star--planet binaries with other single stars. We derive analytical cross sections for all possible outcomes, and confirm them with numerical scattering experiments. We find that a wide mass ratio in the…
The discovery of transiting circumbinary planets by the Kepler mission suggests that planets can form efficiently around binary stars. None of the stellar binaries currently known to host planets has a period shorter than 7 days, despite…
Results are presented on component masses and system angular momenta for over a hundred low-temperature contact binaries. It is found that the secondary components in close binary systems are very similar in mass. Our observational evidence…
Circumbinary disks are found in a variety of astrophysical scenarios, spanning binary star formation to accreting supermassive black hole binaries. The interaction with a circumbinary disk can yield opposite effects on the binary orbit…
In order to understand the formation mechanism of the disks around Be stars it is imperative to have a good overview of both the differences and similarities between normal B stars and the Be stars. Here we investigate a previous report…
I list the 16 planetary nebulae (PNe) known to contain close-binary nuclei, and show that the nebulae generally have axisymmetric structures, including elliptical, bipolar, or ring morphologies. The orbital periods range from 2.7 hr to 16…
Many of the stars in the Galaxy were formed in binary systems. The widest of these can eventually become disrupted due to a combination of kicks from passing stars and the Galactic tidal field. If the Galactic disk were purely axisymmetric,…
In our current interpretation of the hierarchical structure of the universe it is well established that galaxies collide and merge with each other during their lifetime. If massive black holes (MBHs) reside in galactic centres, we expect…
A significant fraction of, and possibly all, stars form in binary or multiple systems. For Solar-mass stars in the Galactic field, the distribution of orbital separations is log-normal over seven orders of magnitude, from $10^{-2} - 10^5$…
We discuss the detectability of gravitationally bounded pairs of gas-giant planets (which we call "binary planets") in extrasolar planetary systems that are formed through orbital instability followed by planet-planet dynamical tides during…
We present a high spatial resolution UV to NIR survey of 44 young binary stars in Taurus with separations of 10-1000 AU. The primary results include: (1) The relative ages of binary star components are more similar than the relative ages of…
In the past decade, the number of known binary near-Earth asteroids has more than quadrupled and the number of known large main belt asteroids with satellites has doubled. Half a dozen triple asteroids have been discovered, and the…
The majority of stars in known star-forming regions are located in binary systems. Although the separation distribution of these populations varies from one region to another, most peak between a few and several tens of AU. Given the >100…
[ABRIDGED] We study supermassive black hole binary mergers driven by angular momentum loss to small-scale gas discs. Such binaries form after major galaxy mergers, but their fate is unclear since hardening through stellar scattering becomes…
The Kepler satellite has discovered a number of transiting planets around close binary stars. These circumbinary systems have highly aligned planetary and binary orbits. In this paper, we explore how the mutual inclination between the…