Related papers: Obliquity Tides on Hot Jupiters
Variations in the axial tilt, or obliquity, of terrestrial planets can affect their climates and therefore their habitability. Kepler-62f is a 1.4 R$_\oplus$ planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its K2 dwarf host star (Borucki et…
High-eccentricity tidal migration is a possible way for giant planets to be emplaced in short-period orbits. If it commonly operates, one would expect to catch proto-Hot Jupiters on highly elliptical orbits that are undergoing…
Hot Jupiters are a class of extrasolar planet that orbit their parent stars at very short distances. Due to their close proximity, they are expected to be tidally locked, which can lead to a large temperature difference between their day…
We use numerical simulations to model the migration of massive planets at small radii and compare the results with the known properties of 'hot Jupiters' (extrasolar planets with semi-major axes a < 0.1 AU). For planet masses Mp sin i > 0.5…
Exoplanet discoveries over recent years have shown that terrestrial planets are exceptionally common. Many of these planets are in compact systems that result in complex orbital dynamics. A key step toward determining the surface conditions…
We explore the possibility that large-scale convection be inhibited over some regions of giant planet interiors, as a consequence of a gradient of composition inherited either from their formation history or from particular events like…
Turbulence is ubiquitous in Solar System planetary atmospheres. In hot Jupiter atmospheres, the combination of moderately slow rotation and thick pressure scale height may result in dynamical weather structures with unusually large,…
The orbits of giant extrasolar planets often have surprisingly small semi-major axes, large eccentricities, or severe misalignments between their normals and their host stars' spin axes. In some formation scenarios invoking Kozai-Lidov…
Large planetary spin-orbit misalignments (obliquities) may strongly influence atmospheric circulation and tidal heating in the planet. A promising avenue to generate obliquities is via spin-orbit resonances, where the spin and orbital…
Orbits of known extrasolar planets that are located outside the tidal circularization regions of their parent stars are often substantially eccentric. By contrast, planetary orbits in our Solar System are approximately circular, reflecting…
The habitable zones of main sequence stars have traditionally been defined as the range of orbits that intercept the appropriate amount of stellar flux to permit surface water on a planet. Terrestrial exoplanets discovered to orbit M stars…
We study the radius evolution of close-in extra-solar jupiters under Ohmic heating, a mechanism that was recently proposed to explain the large observed sizes of many of these planets. Planets are born with high entropy and they…
The distribution of spin-orbit angles for systems with wide-separation, tidally detached exoplanets offers a unique constraint on the prevalence of dynamically violent planetary evolution histories. Tidally detached planets provide a…
Several processes can cause the shape of an extrasolar giant planet's shadow, as viewed in transit, to depart from circular. In addition to rotational effects, cloud formation, non-homogenous haze production and movement, and dynamical…
Oceanic tides are a major source of tidal dissipation. They are a key actor for the orbital and rotational evolution of planetary systems, and contribute to the heating of icy satellites hosting a subsurface ocean. Oceanic tides are…
We have measured radial velocities of a star, OGLE-TR-56, which shows a 1.2-day transit-like light curve found photometrically by Udalski et al.(2002ab). Here we show that the velocity changes we detect are probably induced by an object of…
Is there oceanic superrotation on exoplanets? Atmospheric superrotation, characterized by west-to-east winds over the equator, is a common phenomenon in the atmospheres of Venus, Titan, Saturn, Jupiter, and tidally locked exoplanets. The…
Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of low-mass stars undergo strong tidal effects that modify their spin states. These planets are expected to host dense atmospheres that can also play an important role in the spin evolution. On one…
Earth-scale planets in the classical habitable zone (HZ) are more likely to be habitable if they possess active geophysics. Without a constant internal energy source, planets cool as they age, eventually terminating tectonic activity and…
Several short-period Jupiter-mass planets have been discovered around nearby solar-type stars. During the circularization of their orbits, the dissipation of tidal disturbance by their host stars heats the interior and inflates the sizes of…