Extrasolar Enigmas: From Disintegrating Exoplanets to Exoasteroids

Budaj, Jan; Kabáth, Petr; Palle, Enric
Referencia bibliográfica

Reviews in Frontiers of Modern Astrophysics; From Space Debris to Cosmology

Fecha de publicación:
6
2020
Número de autores
3
Número de autores del IAC
1
Número de citas
2
Número de citas referidas
2
Descripción
Thousands of transiting exoplanets have been discovered to date, thanks in great part to the Kepler space mission. As in all populations, and certainly in the case of exoplanets, one finds unique objects with distinct characteristics. Here we will describe the properties and behaviour of a small group of 'disintegrating' exoplanets discovered over the last few years (KIC 12557548b, K2-22b, and others). They evaporate, lose mass unraveling their naked cores, produce spectacular dusty comet-like tails, and feature highly variable asymmetric transits. Apart from these exoplanets, there is observational evidence for even smaller 'exo-'objects orbiting other stars: exoasteroids and exocomets. Most probably, such objects are also behind the mystery of Boyajian's star. Ongoing and upcoming space missions such as TESS and PLATO will hopefully discover more objects of this kind, and a new era of the exploration of small extrasolar systems bodies will be upon us.
Proyectos relacionados
Image withthe projects' name
Exoplanetas y Astrobiología
La búsqueda de vida en el Universo se ha visto impulsada por los recientes descubrimientos de planetas alrededor de otras estrellas (los llamados exoplanetas), convirtiéndose en uno de los campos más activos dentro de la Astrofísica moderna. En los últimos años los descubrimientos cada vez más numerosos de nuevos exoplanetas y los últimos avances
Enric
Pallé Bago