Studying Resonance in Exoplanet Migrations

While astronomical surveys of exoplanets can often reveal important planetary orbital behaviours, a planet’s axial tilt can be just as important in studying the planet’s characteristics. Earth’s axial tilt for example, is responsible for seasons. This tilt is very difficult to determine observationally, but we can simulate exoplanet systems to study axial tilt evolution. During my freshman summer, I worked with Professor Sarah Millholland to study the axial tilt evolution of exoplanets.

Specifically, we focused on migrating exoplanet systems with planets in resonance, as the characteristics of these planets are well known and resonance chains tend to evolve toward stable states. Migrating these planets while tracking their axial tilt vectors helps us understand the system's evolution and predict its current-day properties. We simulated these systems using the REBOUND N-body integrator, and my work focused specifically on the TOI-1136 system.

The results of our study can be found in our publication.