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Through the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, several hot Jupiters have been found to exhibit spin–orbit misalignment and even retrograde orbits. The high obliquity observed in these planets can be attributed to two primary formation mechanisms, as summarized in the existing literature. First, the host star's spin becomes misaligned with the planetary disk during the late stages of star formation, primarily due to chaotic accretion and magnetic interactions between the star and the planetary disk. Second, the orbital inclination of an individual planet can be excited by dynamical processes such as planet–planet scattering, the Lidov–Kozai cycle, and secular chaos within the framework of Newtonian mechanics. This study introduces a third mechanism, where, within the framework of general relativity, the post-Newtonian spin–orbit coupling term induces precession of the host star's spin around the orbital angular momentum. The orbital inclination, relative to a reference plane, can expand the range of deviation in the spatial orientation of the bodies’ spins from the plane's normal. The varying amplitude and period of spin precession for both the star and the planet are derived theoretically, and the results, which can be applied without restriction, agree well with numerical simulations.

TOI-1338 is the first circumbinary planet (CBP) system discovered by TESS. It has one transiting planet at P ∼ 95 days and an outer nontransiting planet at P ∼ 215 days complemented by radial velocity (RV) observation. Here we present a global photodynamical modeling of the TOI-1338 system that self-consistently accounts for the mutual gravitational interactions between all known bodies in the system. As a result, the three-dimensional architecture of the system can be established by comparing the model with additional data from TESS Extended Mission and published HARPS/ESPRESSO RV data. We report an inconsistency of binary RV signal between HARPS and ESPRESSO, which could be due to the contamination of the secondary star. According to stability analysis, the RV data via ESPRESSO are preferred. Our results are summarized as follows: (1) The inner transiting planet is extremely coplanar to the binary plane Δ I _b ∼ 0.°12, making it a permanently transiting circumbinary planet at any nodal precession phases; we updated the future transit ephemerides with improved precisions. (2) The outer planet, despite its untransiting nature, is also coplanar with the binary plane by ${\rm{\Delta }}{I}_{c}=9\buildrel{\circ}\over{.} {1}_{-4\buildrel{\circ}\over{.} \,8}^{+6\buildrel{\circ}\over{.} \,0}$ (22° for the 99% upper limit). (3) The inner planet could have an extremely low density of 0.137 ± 0.026 g cm ^−3 . With a TESS magnitude of 11.45, TOI-1338 b is an optimal circumbinary planet CBP for ground-based follow-up and transit spectroscopy.

Planets in young star clusters could shed light on planet formation and evolution since star clusters can provide accurate age estimation. However, the number of transiting planets detected in clusters was only ∼30, too small for statistical analysis. Thanks to the unprecedented high-precision astrometric data provided by Gaia DR2 and Gaia DR3, many new open clusters (OCs) and comoving groups have been identified. The Understanding Planetary Formation and Evolution in Star Clusters project aims to find observational evidence and interpret how planets form and evolve in cluster environments. In this work, we cross match the stellar catalogs of new OCs and comoving groups with confirmed planets and candidates. We carefully remove false positives and obtain the biggest catalog of planets in star clusters up to now, which consists of 73 confirmed planets and 84 planet candidates. After age validation, we obtain the radius–age diagram of these planets/candidates. We find an increment in the fraction of hot Jupiters (HJs) around 100 Myr and attribute the increment to the flyby-induced high- e migration in star clusters. An additional small bump of the fraction of HJs after 1 Gyr is detected, which indicates the formation timescale of HJ around field stars is much larger than that in star clusters. Thus, stellar environments play important roles in the formation of HJs. The hot Neptune desert occurs around 100 Myr in our sample. A combination of photoevaporation and high- e migration may sculpt the hot Neptune desert in clusters.

EX Lup is the archetype for the class of young stars that undergoes repeated accretion outbursts of ∼5 mag at optical wavelengths that last for months. Despite extensive monitoring that dates back 130 yr, the accretion history of EX Lup remains mostly qualitative and has large uncertainties. We assess historical accretion rates of EX Lup by applying correlations between optical brightness and accretion, developed on multi-band magnitude photometry of the ∼2 mag optical burst in 2022. Two distinct classes of bursts occur: major outbursts (Δ V ∼ 5 mag) have year-long durations, are rare, reach accretion rates of ${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{acc}}\sim {10}^{-7}$ M _⊙ yr ^−1 at peak, and have a total accreted mass of around 0.1 Earth mass. The characteristic bursts (Δ V ∼ 2 mag) have durations of ∼2–3 months, are more common, reach accretion rates of ${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{acc}}\sim {10}^{-8}$ M _⊙ yr ^−1 at peak, and have a total accreted mass of around 10 ^−3 Earth masses. The distribution of total accreted mass in the full set of bursts is poorly described by a power law, which suggests different driving causes behind the major outburst and characteristic bursts. The total mass accreted during two classes of bursts is around 2 times the masses accreted during quiescence. Our analysis of the light curves reveals a color-dependent time lag in the 2022 post-burst light curve, attributed to the presence of both hot and cool spots on the stellar surface.

Analysis of the transit timing variations (TTVs) of candidate pairs near mean-motion resonances (MMRs) is an effective method to confirm planets. Hitherto, 68 planets in 34 multi-planet systems have been confirmed via TTVs. We analyze the TTVs of all candidates from the most recent Kepler data with a time span of upto about 1350 days (Q0-Q15). The anti-correlations of TTV signals and the mass upper limits of candidate pairs in the same system are calculated using an improved method suitable for long-period TTVs. If the false alarm probability of a candidate pair is less than 10–3 and the mass upper limit for each candidate is less than 13 MJ, we confirm them as planets in the same system. Finally, eight planets in four multi-planet systems are confirmed via analysis of their TTVs. All of the four planet pairs are near first-order MMRs, including KOI-2672 near 2:1 MMR and KOI-1236, KOI-1563, and KOI-2038 near 3:2 MMR. Four planets have relatively long orbital periods (>35 days). KOI-2672.01 has an orbital period of 88.51658 days and a fit mass of 17 M⊕. To date, it is the longest-period planet confirmed near a first-order MMR via TTVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open clusters (OCs) are usually young and suitable for studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems. So far, only four planets have been found with radial velocity measurements in OCs. Meanwhile, a lot of freefloating planets (FFPs) have been detected. We utilize N-body simulations to investigate the evolution and final configurations of multi-planetary systems in very young open clusters with an age <10 Myr. After an evolution of 10 Myr, 61%-72% of the planets remain bounded and more than 55% of the planetary systems will maintain their initial orbital configurations. For systems with one planet ejected, more than 25% of them have the surviving planets in misaligned orbits. In the clusters, the fraction of planetary systems with misalignment is >6%, and only 1% have planets in retrograde orbits. We also obtain a positive correlation between the survival planet number and the distance from the cluster center r: planetary systems with a larger r tend to be more stable. Moreover, stars with a mass >2.5 M⊙ are likely unstable and lose their planets. These results are roughly consistent with current observations. Planetary systems in binaries are less stable and we achieve a rough criterion: most of the binary systems with ab(1 - eb2) >100 AU can retain all the initial planets. Finally, 80% of the FFPs are ejected out of the clusters, while the rest (~20%) still stay in host clusters and most of them are concentrated in the center (<2 pc). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the theory of Kozai resonance, the initial mutual inclination between a small body and a massive planet in an outer circular orbit is as high as ∼39.◦ 2 for pumping the eccentricity of the inner small body. Here we show that with the presence of a residual gas disk outside two planetary orbits, the inclination can be reduced to as low as a few degrees. The presence of the disk changes the nodal precession rates and directions of the planet orbits. At the place where the two planets achieve the same nodal processing rate, vertical secular resonance (VSR) occurs so that the mutual inclination of the two planets will be excited, which might further trigger the Kozai resonance between the two planets. However, in order to pump an inner Jupiter-like planet, the conditions required for the disk and the outer planet are relatively strict. We develop a set of evolution equations, which can fit the N-body simulation quite well but can be integrated within a much shorter time. By scanning the parameter spaces using the evolution equations, we find that a massive planet (10MJ ) at 30AU with an inclination of 6◦ to a massive disk (50MJ ) can finally enter the Kozai resonance with an inner Jupiter around the snowline. An inclination of 20◦ of the outer planet to the disk is required for flipping the inner one to a retrograde orbit. In multiple planet systems, the mechanism can happen between two nonadjacent planets or can inspire a chain reaction among more than two planets. This mechanism could be the source of the observed giant planets in moderate eccentric and inclined orbits, or hot Jupiters in close-in, retrograde orbits after tidal damping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stars are commonly formed in binary systems, which provide a natural laboratory for studying planet formation in extreme conditions. In our first paper (Paper I) of a series, we have shown that the intermediate stage—from planetesimals to planetary embryos/cores—of planet formation can proceed even in highly inclined binaries. Following Paper I, here we numerically study the late stage of terrestrial planet formation, i.e., from embryos to full planets, in binary systems of various orbital configurations. We identify an orbital alignment effect; namely, although an inclined binary generally misaligns the planetary orbits with respect to the spin axis of the primary host star (i.e., causing large obliquity), it could align the planetary orbits with respect to the binary orbit. Such an orbital alignment effect is caused by the combination of orbital differential precession and self-damping, and it is mostly significant in cases of intermediate binary separations, i.e., aB ∼ 40–200 au for planet formation around 1 au from the primary stars. In such intermediate separation binaries, somewhat contrary to intuition, the binary companion can aid planet growth by having increased the rate of collisions, forming significantly more massive but fewer planets. On the other two ends, the companion is either too close, and thus plays a violently disruptive role, or too wide to have a significant effect on planet formation. Future observations that can discover more planet-bearing binary star systems and constrain their masses and 3D orbital motions will test our numerical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present eight new light curves of the transiting extra-solar planet HAT-P-25b obtained from 2013 to 2016 with three telescopes at two observatories. We use the new light curves, along with recent literature material, to estimate the physical and orbital parameters of the transiting planet. Specifically, we determine the mid-transit times (TC) and update the linear ephemeris, TC[0] = 2456418.80996 ± 0.00025 [BJDTDB] and P = 3.65281572 ± 0.00000095 days. We carry out a search for transit timing variations (TTVs), and find no significant TTV signal at the ΔT = 80 s-level, placing a limit on the possible strength of planet–planet interactions (TTVG). In the course of our analysis, we calculate the upper mass-limits of the potential nearby perturbers. Near the 1:2, 2:1, and 3:1 resonances with HAT-P-25b, perturbers with masses greater than 0.5, 0.3, and 0.5 M⊕ respectively, can be excluded. Furthermore, based on the analysis of TTVs caused by light travel time effect (LTTE) we also eliminate the possibility that a long-period perturber exists with Mp > 3000 MJ within a = 11.2 au of the parent star. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many exoplanets have been found in orbits close to their host stars and thus they are subject to the effects of photo-evaporation. Previous studies have shown that a large portion of exoplanets detected by the Kepler mission have been significantly eroded by photo-evaporation. In this paper, we numerically study the effects of photo-evaporation on the orbital evolution of a hypothesized moon system around a planet. We find that photo-evaporation is crucial to the stability of the moon system. Photo-evaporation can erode the atmosphere of the planet thus leading to significant mass loss. As the planet loses mass, its Hill radius shrinks and its moons increase their orbital semimajor axes and eccentricities. When some moons approach their critical semimajor axes, global instability of the moon system would be triggered, which usually ends up with two, one or even zero surviving moons. Some lost moons could escape from the moon system to become a new planet orbiting the star or run away further to become a free-floating object in the Galaxy. Given the destructive role of photo-evaporation, we speculate that exomoons are less common for close-in planets (<0.1 au), especially those around M-type stars, because they are more X-ray luminous and thus enhancing photo-evaporation. The lessons we learn in this study may be helpful for the target selection of on-going/future exomoon searching programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaia is leading us into a new era with a high astrometry precision of ∼10 μas. Under such precision, astrometry can play an important role in detecting and characterizing exoplanets. In particular, we can identify planet pairs in mean motion resonances (MMRs), which constrain the formation and evolution of planetary systems. In accordance with observations, we consider two-Jupiter or two-super-Earth systems in 1:2, 2:3, and 3:4 MMRs. Our simulations show that the false alarm probabilities (FAPs) of a third planet are extremely small, while the two real planets can be fitted well with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The probability of reconstructing a resonant system is related to the eccentricities and the resonance intensity. Generally, when the S/N , if the eccentricities of both planets are larger than 0.01 and the resonance is quite strong, the probability of reconstructing the planet pair in MMRs is . Jupiter pairs in MMRs are reconstructed more easily than super-Earth pairs with similar S/N when we consider dynamical stability. FAPs are also calculated when we detect planet pairs in or near MMRs. The FAPs for 1:2 MMRs are the largest, i.e., FAP when S/N . Extrapolating from the Kepler planet pairs near MMRs and assuming a S/N ∼ 3, we discover and reconstruct a few tens of Jupiter pairs and hundreds of super-Earth pairs in 2:3 and 1:2 MMRs within 30 pc. We also compare the differences between even and uneven data cadence and find that planets are better measured with more uniform phase coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]