Princeton University Extrasolar Planet Discussion Group

Gas giant planets’ deep internal structures and basic properties remain uncertain, even in our own solar system. Fortunately, the interactions of planets with their environments offer complementary insight to direct observations. I will describe how the gravitational interaction of Saturn with its rings can help us understand the planet’s internal structure and rotation state. The tidal interactions of Saturn and Jupiter with their satellite moons also promise insight into the intrinsic properties of giant planets. Meanwhile, the tidal interactions of extrasolar planets with their host stars leave traces in exoplanet population data. Lastly, I will introduce new results demonstrating that a novel tidal effect can inhibit the process of spin (pseudo-)synchronization that has historically been expected to occur rapidly in eccentric systems.