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The up to 150 day uninterrupted high-precision photometry of about 100000 stars – provided so far by the exoplanet channel of the CoRoT space telescope – gave a new perspective on the planet population of our galactic neighbourhood. The seven planets with very accurate parameters widen the range of known planet properties in almost any respect. Giant planets have been detected at low metallicity, rapidly rotating and active, spotted stars. CoRoT-3 populated the brown dwarf desert and closed the gap of measured physical properties between standard giant planets and very low mass stars. CoRoT extended the known range of planet masses down-to 5 Earth masses and up to 21 Jupiter masses, the radii to less than 2 Earth radii and up to the most inflated hot Jupiter found so far, and the periods of planets discovered by transits to 9 days. Two CoRoT planets have host stars with the lowest content of heavy elements known to show a transit hinting towards a different planet-host-star-metallicity relation then the one found by radial-velocity search programs. Finally the properties of the CoRoT-7b prove that terrestrial planets with a density close to Earth exist outside the Solar System. The detection of the secondary transit of CoRoT-1 at the 10−5-level and the very clear detection of the 1.7 Earth radii of CoRoT-7b at 3.5 10−4 relative flux are promising evidence of CoRoT being able to detect even smaller, Earth sized planets.

Aims. We report the discovery of a massive and dense transiting planet CoRoT-27b on a 3.58-day orbit around a 4.2 Gyr-old G2 star. The planet candidate was identified from the CoRoT photometry, and was confirmed as a planet with ground-based spectroscopy. Methods. The confirmation of the planet candidate is based on radial velocity observations combined with imaging to rule out blends. The characterisation of the planet and its host star was carried out using a Bayesian approach where all the data (CoRoT photometry, radial velocities, and spectroscopic characterisation of the star) are used jointly. The Bayesian analysis included a study whether the assumption of white normally distributed noise holds for the CoRoT photometry and whether the use of a non-normal noise distribution offers advantages in parameter estimation and model selection. Results. CoRoT-27b has a mass of 10.39 ± 0.55 MJup, a radius of 1.01 ± 0.04 RJup, a mean density of 12.6+1.92 g cm-1.67 g cm-3, and an effective temperature of 1500 ± 130 K. The planet orbits around its host star, a 4.2 Gyr-old G2-star with a mass M* = 1:06 M☉ and a radius R* = 1:05 R☉, on a 0.048 ± 0.007 AU orbit of 3.58 days. The radial velocity observations allow us to exclude highly eccentric orbits, namely, e < 0.065 with 99% confidence. Given its high mass and density, theoretical modelling of CoRoT-27b is demanding. We identify two solutions with heavy element mass fractions of 0.11 ± 0.08 M⊗ and 0.07 ± 0.06 M⊗, but even solutions void of heavy elements cannot be excluded. We carry out a secondary eclipse search from the CoRoT photometry using a method based on Bayesian model selection, but conclude that the noise level is too high to detect eclipses shallower than 9% of the transit depth. Using a non-normal noise model was shown not to affect the parameter estimation results, but led to significant improvement in the sensitivity of the model selection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We report the discovery of CoRoT-16b, a low density hot jupiter that orbits a faint G5V star (mV = 15.63) in 5.3523 ± 0.0002 days with slight eccentricity. A fit of the data with no a priori assumptions on the orbit leads to an eccentricity of 0.33 ± 0.1. We discuss this value and also derive the mass and radius of the planet. Methods. We analyse the photometric transit curve of CoRoT-16 given by the CoRoT satellite, and radial velocity data from the HARPS and HIRES spectrometers. A combined analysis using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is used to get the system parameters. Results. CoRoT-16b is a 0.535 -0.083/+0.085 MJ, 1.17 -0.14/+0.16 RJ hot Jupiter with a density of 0.44 -0.14/+0.21 g cm-3. Despite its short orbital distance (0.0618 ± 0.0015 AU) and the age of the parent star (6.73 ± 2.8 Gyr), the planet orbit exhibits significantly non-zero eccentricity. This is very uncommon for this type of objects as tidal effects tend to circularise the orbit. This value is discussed taking into account the characteristics of the star and the observation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first in a series of publications which investigate the stability properties of the complete set of isothermal protoplanetary equilibrium solutions. To perform a non-linear stability analysis, we introduce a fluid dynamics numerical model. We inspect the entire solution set and find five basic dynamical modes: oscillation, pulsation, transition, ejection and collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, many extrasolar planets have been detected. Some of them exhibit properties quite different from the planets in our Solar system and they have eluded attempts to explain their formation. One such case is HD 149026 b. It was discovered by Sato et al. A transit-determined orbital inclination results in a total mass of . The unusually small radius can be explained by a condensible element core with an inferred mass of for the best-fitting theoretical model. In the core accretion model, giant planets are assumed to form around a growing core of condensible materials. With increasing core mass, the amount of gravitationally bound envelope mass increases. This continues up to the so-called critical core mass – the largest core allowing a hydrostatic envelope. For larger cores, the lack of static solutions forces a dynamic evolution of the protoplanet, accreting large amounts of gas or ejecting the envelope in the process. This would prevent the formation of HD 149026 b. By studying all possible hydrostatic equilibria we could show that HD 149026 b can remain hydrostatic up to the inferred heavy core. This is possible if it is formed in situ in a relatively low-pressure nebula. This formation process is confirmed by fluid-dynamic calculations using the environmental conditions as determined by the hydrostatic models. We present a quantitative in situ formation scenario for the massive core planet HD 149026 b. Furthermore, we predict a wide range of possible core masses for close-in planets like HD 149026 b. This is different from migration, where typical critical core masses should be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of giant planets involves processes typical for terrestrial planet formation as well as gasdynamic processes that were previously known only in stars. The condensible element cores of the gas-giants grow by solid body accretion while envelope formation is governed by 'stellar-like' equilibria and the dynamic departures thereof. Two hypotheses for forming Uranus/Neptune-type planets - at sufficiently large heliocentric distances while allowing accretion of massive gaseous envelopes, i.e. Jupiter-type planets at intermediate distances - have been worked out in detailed numerical calculations: (1) Hydrostatic gas-accretion models with time-dependent solid body accretion-rates show a slow-down of core-accretion at the appropriate masses of Uranus and Neptune. As a consequence, gas-accretion also stagnates and a window is opened for removing the solar nebula during a time of roughly constant envelope mass. (2) Gasdynamic calculations of envelope accretion for constant planetesimal accretion-rates show a dynamic transition to new envelope equilibria at the so called critical mass. For a wide range of solar nebula conditions the new envelopes have respective masses similar to those of Uranus and Neptune and are more tightly bound to the cores. The transitions occur under lower density conditions typical for the outer parts of the solar nebula, whereas for higher densities, i.e. closer to the Sun, gasdynamic envelope accretion sets in and is able to proceed to Jupiter-masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]