Statistics of Extreme Gravitational Lensing Events. I.The Zero Shear Case

For a given source and lens pair, there is a thin on-axis tube-like volume behind the lens in which the radiation flux from the source is greatly increased due to gravitational lensing. Any objects (such as dust grains) which pass through such a thin tube will experience strong bursts of radiation, i.e., Extreme Gravitational Lensing Events (EGLE). We study the physics and statistics of EGLE for the case in which finite source size is more important than shear. One of the several possible significant astrophysical effects is investigated with an illustrative calculation.Comment: revised and final published version including a new section on the destruction of dust grains in globular clusters as an exampl

On the Eccentricity Distribution of Exoplanets from Radial Velocity Surveys

We investigate the estimation of orbital parameters by least-$\chi^2$ Keplerian fits to radial velocity (RV) data using synthetic data sets. We find that while the fitted period is fairly accurate, the best-fit eccentricity and $M_p\sin i$ are systematically biased upward from the true values for low signal-to-noise ratio $K/\sigma\lesssim 3$ and moderate number of observations $N_{\rm obs}\lesssim 60$, leading to a suppression of the number of nearly circular orbits. Assuming intrinsic distributions of orbital parameters, we generate a large number of mock RV data sets and study the selection effect on the eccentricity distribution. We find the overall detection efficiency only mildly decreases with eccentricity. This is because although high eccentricity orbits are more difficult to sample, they also have larger RV amplitudes for fixed planet mass and orbital semi-major axis. Thus the primary source of uncertainties in the eccentricity distribution comes from biases in Keplerian fits to detections with low-amplitude and/or small $N_{\rm obs}$, rather than from selection effects. Our results suggest that the abundance of low-eccentricity exoplanets may be underestimated in the current sample and we urge caution in interpreting the eccentricity distributions of low-amplitude detections in future RV samples.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Viscoelastic Models of Tidally Heated Exomoons

Tidal heating of exomoons may play a key role in their habitability, since the elevated temperature can melt the ice on the body even without significant solar radiation. The possibility of life is intensely studied on Solar System moons such as Europa or Enceladus, where the surface ice layer covers tidally heated water ocean. Tidal forces may be even stronger in extrasolar systems, depending on the properties of the moon and its orbit. For studying the tidally heated surface temperature of exomoons, we used a viscoelastic model for the first time. This model is more realistic than the widely used, so-called fixed Q models, because it takes into account the temperature dependency of the tidal heat flux, and the melting of the inner material. With the use of this model we introduced the circumplanetary Tidal Temperate Zone (TTZ), that strongly depends on the orbital period of the moon, and less on its radius. We compared the results with the fixed Q model and investigated the statistical volume of the TTZ using both models. We have found that the viscoelastic model predicts 2.8 times more exomoons in the TTZ with orbital periods between 0.1 and 3.5 days than the fixed Q model for plausible distributions of physical and orbital parameters. The viscoelastic model gives more promising results in terms of habitability, because the inner melting of the body moderates the surface temperature, acting like a thermostat.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap

Gravitational lensing in modified Newtonian dynamics

Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is an alternative theory of gravity that aims to explain large-scale dynamics without recourse to any form of dark matter. However the theory is incomplete, lacking a relativistic counterpart, and so makes no definite predictions about gravitational lensing. The most obvious form that MONDian lensing might take is that photons experience twice the deflection of massive particles moving at the speed of light, as in general relativity (GR). In such a theory there is no general thin-lens approximation (although one can be made for spherically-symmetric deflectors), but the three-dimensional acceleration of photons is in the same direction as the relativistic acceleration would be. In regimes where the deflector can reasonably be approximated as a single point-mass (specifically low-optical depth microlensing and weak galaxy-galaxy lensing), this naive formulation is consistent with observations. Forthcoming galaxy-galaxy lensing data and the possibility of cosmological microlensing have the potential to distinguish unambiguously between GR and MOND. Some tests can also be performed with extended deflectors, for example by using surface brightness measurements of lens galaxies to model quasar lenses, although the breakdown of the thin-lens approximation allows an extra degree of freedom. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely that simple ellipsoidal galaxies can explain both constraints. Further, the low-density universe implied by MOND must be completely dominated by the cosmological constant (to fit microwave background observations), and such models are at odds with the low frequency of quasar lenses. These conflicts might be resolved by a fully consistent relativistic extension to MOND; the alternative is that MOND is not an accurate description of the universe.Comment: MNRAS, in press; 11 pages, 10 figure

The Effect of Multiple Heat Sources on Exomoon Habitable Zones

With dozens of Jovian and super-Jovian exoplanets known to orbit their host stars in or near the stellar habitable zones, it has recently been suggested that moons the size of Mars could offer abundant surface habitats beyond the solar system. Several searches for such exomoons are now underway, and the exquisite astronomical data quality of upcoming space missions and ground-based extremely large telescopes could make the detection and characterization of exomoons possible in the near future. Here we explore the effects of tidal heating on the potential of Mars- to Earth-sized satellites to host liquid surface water, and we compare the tidal heating rates predicted by tidal equilibrium model and a viscoelastic model. In addition to tidal heating, we consider stellar radiation, planetary illumination and thermal heat from the planet. However, the effects of a possible moon atmosphere are neglected. We map the circumplanetary habitable zone for different stellar distances in specific star-planet-satellite configurations, and determine those regions where tidal heating dominates over stellar radiation. We find that the `thermostat effect' of the viscoelastic model is significant not just at large distances from the star, but also in the stellar habitable zone, where stellar radiation is prevalent. We also find that tidal heating of Mars-sized moons with eccentricities between 0.001 and 0.01 is the dominant energy source beyond 3--5 AU from a Sun-like star and beyond 0.4--0.6 AU from an M3 dwarf star. The latter would be easier to detect (if they exist), but their orbital stability might be under jeopardy due to the gravitational perturbations from the star.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 8 pages, 4 figure