Star-planet interactions
Star and planet evolve and interact throughout their lifetimes. The interaction phenomena can be divided into three categories: gravitational interactions and tidal phenomena; irradiation of planetary atmospheres that lead to photo-evaporation and photochemical processes; interactions due to material transport, with phenomena of accretion onto the star or perturbation of planetary atmospheres due to stellar wind and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME). The existence of these types of interactions is suggested by numerous observational evidence, but the relative importance of possible physical phenomena depending on the age of the star and the architecture of planetary systems is the subject of cutting-edge research. Our team’s goal is to understand the effects of these interactions and their role in determining the properties of exoplanetary atmospheres on various timescales.
Our approach is multidisciplinary, and we carry out numerous projects that address these issues from both an observational and a modelling perspective
3D Magnetohydrodynamic model used for star-planet interaction studies. The star is at the center of each frame, on the left there is the planet. Planetary wind density is represented in color scale. Green lines represent the magnetic field lines.
Team
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Salvatore Colombo Researcher Email: salvatore.colombo @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0002-3257-862X |
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Daniele Locci Researcher Email: daniele.locci @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0002-9824-2336 |
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Antonio Maggio Researcher Email: antonio.maggio @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0001-5154-6108 |
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Giusi Micela Head of ExoPa Email: giusi.micela @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0002-9900-4751 |
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Antonino Petralia Researcher Email: antonino.petralia @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0002-9882-1020 |
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Ignazio Pillitteri Researcher Email: ignazio.pillitteri @inaf.it ORCID: 0000-0003-4948-6550 |