Star-planet Magnetic Interaction

3D Model

The movie shows the evolution of the magnetic field lines around a hot Jupiter while orbiting around its parent star. The simulation is based on a MHD model derived from Matsakos et al. (2015) and applied to the case of HD 189733. The result is that the lines of the magnetic field around the planet are stretched along the direction of the orbital motion of the planet. This is a consequence of the gas evaporating from the planet itself due to the intense irradiation from the star (see This model) Here a static representation of the same simulation. Sound track recorded by me experimenting with phone near the guitar bridge and some effects. References: Mignone et al. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Volume 170, Issue 1, pp. 228-242. (2007); Matsakos et al. (2015), Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 578, id.A6. 17pp. Pillitteri et al. (2015) ,The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 805, Issue 1, article id. 52, 18 pp.