Poster Abstracts

Name/Affiliation:  T. Matsakos, A. Konigl, A. Uribe (University of Chicago)

Title:  3D modeling of hydromagnetic star--planet interactions

Abstract:
Close-in exoplanets interact with their host stars gravitationally as well as through magnetized plasma outflows. In particular, stellar winds and evaporative planetary outflows carry away both angular and linear momentum, which could potentially influence the long-term evolution of the system. In this context, we perform 3D magnetohydrodynamical numerical simulations of a magnetized hot jupiter orbiting a star and study the complex physical processes involved in the star--planet interaction. We explore a wide parameter range of the magnetic coupling, such as the size and orientation of the magnetospheres and the orbital characteristics of the planet, in an attempt to model the effects and feedback this interaction may have on the stellar spin and the planetary orbit as well as on the structure of the two outflows. Potentially observable effects of this interaction are also discussed.