Publications by authors named "Peter De Cat"

Unlabelled: We present the results of time-series photometric analysis of 15106 A-K type stars observed by the space mission. We identified 513 new rotational variables and measured their starspot rotation periods as a function of spectral type and discuss the distribution of their amplitudes. We examined the well-established period-color relationship that applies to stars of spectral types F5-K for all of these rotational variables and, interestingly, found that a similar period-color relationship appears to extend to stars of spectral types A7 to early-F too.

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The nearly circular (mean eccentricity [Formula: see text]) and coplanar (mean mutual inclination [Formula: see text]) orbits of the solar system planets motivated Kant and Laplace to hypothesize that planets are formed in disks, which has developed into the widely accepted theory of planet formation. The first several hundred extrasolar planets (mostly Jovian) discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique are commonly on eccentric orbits ([Formula: see text]). This raises a fundamental question: Are the solar system and its formation special? The Kepler mission has found thousands of transiting planets dominated by sub-Neptunes, but most of their orbital eccentricities remain unknown.

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Superflares are large explosive events on stellar surfaces one to six orders-of-magnitude larger than the largest flares observed on the Sun throughout the space age. Due to the huge amount of energy released in these superflares, it has been speculated if the underlying mechanism is the same as for solar flares, which are caused by magnetic reconnection in the solar corona. Here, we analyse observations made with the LAMOST telescope of 5,648 solar-like stars, including 48 superflare stars.

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