The orbits of stars close to a massive black hole are nearly Keplerian ellipses. Such orbits exert long term torques on each other, which lead to an enhanced angular momentum relaxation known as resonant relaxation. Under certain conditions, this process can modify the angular momentum distribution and affect the interaction rates of the stars with the massive black hole more efficiently than n...

This paper proposes the use of doubly-symmetric, eight-shaped orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem for continuous coverage of the high-latitude regions of the Earth. These orbits, for a range of amplitudes, spend a large fraction of their period above either pole of the Earth. It is shown that they complement Sun-synchronous polar and highly eccentric Molniya orbits, and present...

We compute here the spin-orbit and spin-spin couplings needed for an accurate computation of the phasing of gravitational waves emitted by comparable-mass binaries on eccentric orbits at the second post-Newtonian (PN) order. We use a quasi-Keplerian parametrization of the orbit free of divergencies in the zero-eccentricity limit. We find that spin-spin couplings induce a residual eccentricity f...

Abstract We present Paper II of the Eccentric Debris Disc Morphologies series to explore effects that significant free and forced eccentricities have on high-resolution millimetre-wavelength observations debris discs, motivated by recent ALMA images HD53143’s disc. In this work, we eccentricity, varying disc fractional widths observational resolutions, show for a range narrow eccentric orbital ...

"Proposed search for the detection of gravitational waves from eccentric binary black holes. Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Most compact binary sy...

This paper presents the first calculation of the gravitational self-force on a small compact object on an eccentric equatorial orbit around a Kerr black hole to first order in the mass-ratio. That is the pointwise correction to the object’s equations of motion (both conservative and dissipative) due to its own gravitational field, which is treated as a linear perturbation to the background Kerr...

Observations of massive stars within the central parsec of the Galaxy show that, while most stars orbit within a well-defined disc, a significant fraction have large eccentricities and / or inclinations with respect to the disc plane. Here, we investigate whether this dynamically hot component could have arisen via scattering from an initially cold disc – the expected initial condition if the s...

We present the results of a transcontinental campaign to observe the 2009 June 5 transit of the exoplanet HD 80606b. We report the first detection of the transit ingress, revealing the transit duration to be 11.64± 0.25 hr and allowing more robust determinations of the system parameters. Keck spectra obtained at midtransit exhibit an anomalous blueshift, giving definitive evidence that the stel...

We develop a model of SGR in which a supernova leaves planets orbiting a neutron star in intersecting eccentric orbits. These planets will collide in ∼ 10 4 years if their orbits are coplanar. Some fragments of debris lose their angular momentum in the collision and fall onto the neutron star, producing a SGR. The initial accretion of matter left by the collision with essentially no angular mom...

In the framework of the planar restricted three body problem we study a considerable number of resonances associated to the Kuiper Belt dynamics and located between 30 and 48 a.u. Our study is based on the computation of resonant periodic orbits and their stability. Stable periodic orbits are surrounded by regular librations in phase space and in such domains the capture of trans-Neptunian obje...