Malena Rice

Exoplanets in binary systems


Most stars are likely born with one or more bound stellar companions. As a result, the diverse mechanisms sculpting exoplanet systems are inextricably linked to stellar multiplicity. I am particularly interested in the 3D orbital geometries of exoplanets in wide stellar binary systems, including both their orbit-orbit and spin-orbit geometries. The properties of such systems may offer critical insights into the initial conditions of exoplanet systems, as well as how they are shaped over their lifetimes.

The fourth result from the SOLES survey, which delves into the role of stellar binarity in the stellar obliquity distribution, is described in my research highlight here.

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