Related papers: Resonantly-forced Eccentric Ringlets: Relationship…
We develop a phenomenological theory that aims to account for the origin of the large eccentricities of extrasolar planets and that of the small eccentricities in the solar system, the preference for apsidal alignment in non-resonant…
The viscous spreading of planetary rings is believed to be counteracted by satellite torques, either through an individual resonance or through overlapping resonances. For the A ring of Saturn, it has been commonly believed that the…
In order to analyze varying plasma conditions upstream of Titan, we have combined a physical model of Saturn's plasmadisk with a geometrical model of the oscillating current sheet. During modeled oscillation phases where Titan is furthest…
At the solar equinox in August 2009, the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) onboard Cassini showed the lowest Saturn's ring temperatures ever observed. Detailed radiative transfer models show that the observed equinox temperatures of…
Recent observations revealed that several extremely low-density exoplanets show featureless transmission spectra. While atmospheric aerosols are a promising explanation for both the low density and featureless spectra, there is another…
We perform axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations that describe the nonlinear outcome of the viscous overstability in dense planetary rings. These simulations are particularly relevant for Cassini observations of fine-scale structure in…
We discuss the nature of rings that may exist around extrasolar planets. Taking the general properties of rings around the gas giants in the Solar System, we infer the likely properties of rings around exoplanets that reside inside the ice…
The aim of this work is to provide an analytical model to characterize the equilibrium points and the phase space associated with the singly-averaged dynamics caused by the planetary oblateness coupled with the solar radiation pressure…
Natural satellite systems present a large variety of orbital configurations in the solar system. While some are clearly the result of known processes, others still have largely unexplained eccentricity and inclination values. Iapetus has a…
Exploratory missions have found that regolith on interplanetary bodies can be loosely packed and freely flowing, a state that strongly affects mission plans and that may also influence the large scale shapes of these bodies. We investigate…
Tidal dissipation inside giant planets is important for the orbital evolution of their natural satellites. It is conventionally treated by parameterized equilibrium tidal theory, in which the tidal torque declines rapidly with distance, and…
Ring seismology has recently revealed the presence of internal gravity waves inside Saturn that extend up to 60% of Saturn's radius starting from the center, in what is recognized today as Saturn's stably-stratified dilute core. Similarly,…
The analyses of Titan's gravity field obtained by Cassini space mission suggest the presence of an internal ocean beneath its icy surface. The characterization of the geophysical parameters of the icy shell and the ocean is important to…
Hundred meter sized objects have been identified by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's A ring through the so-called "propeller" features they create in the ring. These moonlets should migrate, due to their gravitational interaction with the…
Accurate inclusion of both spin precession and orbital eccentricity effects in gravitational waveform models represents a key hurdle in our ability to fully characterize the properties of compact binaries. Virtually all efforts to model…
We numerically investigate the dynamics of rotation of several close-in terrestrial exoplanet candidates. In our model, the rotation of the planet is disturbed by the torque of the central star due to the asymmetric equilibrium figure of…
Planetary rings sustain a continual bombardment of hypervelocity meteoroids that erode the surfaces of ring particles on time scales of 10^5 - 10^7 years. The debris ejected from such impacts re-accretes on to the ring, though often at a…
Spacecraft observations of Saturn's rings show evidence of an active aggregation-disaggregation process triggered by periodic influences from the nearby moons. This leads to clumping and break-up of the ring particles at time-scales of the…
We analyze the dynamics of individual kilometer-size planetesimals in circumstellar orbits of a tight binary system. We include both the gravitational perturbations of the secondary star and a non-linear gas drag stemming from an eccentric…
Saturn's C ring contains multiple structures that appear to be density waves driven by time-variable anomalies in the planet's gravitational field. Semi-empirical extensions of density wave theory enable the observed wave properties to be…