Star planet interaction

SALVATORE COLOMBO, OA, Palermo — February 7, 2022

A significant fraction of known exoplanets are the so-called Hot Jupiters (HJs), massive planets that orbit very close to their host stars. Because of their proximity to the host stars, HJs are the perfect candidates for studying stellar-planet interaction (SPI). Moreover, we know that all stars have winds and energetic events that may be important in defining the chemical composition and dynamics of exoplanetary atmospheres.

In this talk, I will discuss my work on SPI. The talk will be structured in two parts. In the first part, I will focus on interaction from the star to the planet. I will present a new procedure developed to identify the impulsive events in TESS lightcurves. Our goal is to have a simple and effective tool to study the short-term activity of a star using only its light curve to derive its distribution and energetics. As our first case, we studied the system DS Tuc. Our results could be used as input for detailed simulations of the chemical evolution of planetary atmospheres. I will also show the first results of the magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a coronal mass ejection hitting the planet.

In the second part of the talk, I will focus on interaction from the planet to the star, thus I will discuss the first results of the magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a hot Jupiter wind accreting onto the star and the observability of such phenomena.