Search Publications
Radio-loud Exoplanet-exomoon Survey: GMRT Search for Electron Cyclotron Maser Emission
Manoj, P.; Narang, Mayank; Oza, Apurva V. +3 more
We conducted the first dedicated search for signatures of exoplanet-exomoon interactions using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) as part of the radio-loud exoplanet-exomoon survey. Due to stellar tidal heating, irradiation, and subsequent atmospheric escape, candidate "exo-Io" systems are expected to emit up to 106 times more p…
Revisiting Galactic Disk and Spiral Arms Using Open Clusters
Joshi, Yogesh C.; Malhotra, Sagar
We use the largest catalog of open clusters in the post-Gaia era to provide an observational view of the Galactic disk. By compiling physical parameters such as age, distance, and kinematic information, we investigate the spatial distribution of open clusters and revisit the spiral arms and other asymmetries in the Galactic disk. Using young open …
Spectroscopic Follow-up of Gaia Exoplanet Candidates: Impostor Binary Stars Invade the Gaia DR3 Astrometric Exoplanet Candidates
Albrecht, Simon H.; Marcussen, Marcus L.
In this paper, we report on the follow-up of six potential exoplanets detected with Gaia astrometry and provide an overview of what is currently known about the nature of the entire Gaia astrometric exoplanet candidate sample, 72 systems in total. We discuss the primary false-positive scenario for astrometric planet detections: binary systems with…
SOLES. VII. The Spin-Orbit Alignment of WASP-106 b, a Warm Jupiter along the Kraft Break
Rice, Malena; Wang, Songhu; Hixenbaugh, Kyle +2 more
Although close-orbiting, massive exoplanets-known as hot and warm Jupiters-are among the most observationally accessible known planets, their formation pathways are still not universally agreed upon. One method to constrain the possible dynamical histories of such planets is to measure the systems' sky-projected spin-orbit angles using the Rossite…
The Demographics of Terrestrial Planets in the Venus Zone
Kane, Stephen R.; Dalba, Paul A.; Fetherolf, Tara +7 more
Understanding the physical characteristics of Venus, including its atmosphere, interior, and its evolutionary pathway with respect to Earth, remains a vital component for terrestrial planet evolution models and the emergence and/or decline of planetary habitability. A statistical strategy for evaluating the evolutionary pathways of terrestrial pla…
On the Origins of Extreme Velocity Stars as Revealed by Large-scale Galactic Surveys
Huang, Yang; Beers, Timothy C.; Zhang, Hua-Wei +3 more
We assemble a large sample of 12,784 high-velocity stars with total velocity V GSR ≥ 300 km s-1, selected from RAVE DR5, SDSS DR12, LAMOST DR8, APOGEE DR16, GALAH DR2, and Gaia EDR3. In this sample, 52 are marginally hypervelocity star (HVS) candidates that have V GSR exceeding their local escape velocities within …
Beating Stellar Systematic Error Floors Using Transit-based Densities
Eastman, Jason D.; Diamond-Lowe, Hannah; Tayar, Jamie
It has long been understood that the light curve of a transiting planet constrains the density of its host star. That fact is routinely used to improve measurements of the stellar surface gravity and has been argued to be an independent check on the stellar mass. Here we show how the stellar density can also dramatically improve the precision of t…
Astrophysical Properties of 600 Bona Fide Single Stars in the Hyades Open Cluster
Brandner, Wolfgang; Calissendorff, Per; Kopytova, Taisiya
The determination of the astrophysical properties of stars remains challenging and frequently relies on the application of stellar models. Stellar sequences in nearby open clusters provide some of the best means to test and calibrate stellar evolutionary models and isochrones and to use these models to assign astrophysical properties consistently …
UV-optical Emission of AB Aur b Is Consistent with Scattered Stellar Light
Herczeg, Gregory J.; Zhou, Yifan; Kraus, Adam L. +12 more
The proposed protoplanet AB Aur b is a spatially concentrated emission source imaged in the millimeter-wavelength disk gap of the Herbig Ae/Be star AB Aur. Its near-infrared spectrum and absence of strong polarized light have been interpreted as evidence supporting the protoplanet interpretation. However, the complex scattered-light structures in …
Contamination in TESS Light Curves: The Case of the Fast Yellow Pulsating Supergiants
Bell, Keaton J.; Pedersen, May G.
Given its large plate scale of 21″ pixel-1, analyses of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) space telescope must be wary of source confusion from blended light curves, which creates the potential to attribute observed photometric variability to the wrong astrophysical source. We explore the impact of light curve c…