2006/12/27 by Joshua N. Winn, Winn, Joshua N.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0612744
6 pages; submitted to the PASP proceedings of "Transiting Extrasolar Planets Workshop," MPIA Heidelberg Germany, Sep. 25th-28th, 2006, eds. C. Afonso, D. Weldrake, & T. Henning
arxiv created 2006/12/27 · openalex publication_date 2006/12/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A transiting planet eclipses part of the rotating stellar surface, thereby producing an anomalous Doppler shift of the stellar spectrum. Here I review how this "Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect" can be used to characterize exoplanetary systems. In particular, one can measure the angle on the sky between the orbital axis and the stellar rotation axis. This may help to discriminate among migration theories. Measurements have been made for 4 exoplanets, and in all cases the spin and orbital axes are fairly well-aligned. In the future, the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect may also be important as an alternative means of probing exoplanetary atmospheres, and for confirming the transits of objects identified by the satellite missions Corot and Kepler.