The Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems

Thu, March 17, 2016

The basic geometry of the Solar System – the shapes, spacings, andorientations of the planetary orbits – has long been a subject offascination as well as inspiration for planet-formation theories. For exoplanetary systems, those same properties have only recently come into focus. I will review our current knowledge of the occurrence of planets around other stars, their orbital distances and eccentricities, the orbital spacings and mutual inclinations in multiplanet systems, the orientation of the host star's rotation axis, and the properties of planets in binary-star systems. I will also discuss opportunities to improve our understanding, with data from the upcoming TESS space mission.