The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in Exoplanet Research

TL;DR

The paper reviews the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect's role in exoplanet research, highlighting its use in measuring spin-orbit angles and revealing diverse planetary orbital configurations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the effect's history, modelling techniques, current research status, and alternative methods for measuring spin-orbit alignment.

Findings

Measurement of diverse spin-orbit angles in exoplanets

The effect is now a routine observational procedure

Various methods exist for spectroscopic transit analysis

Abstract

The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect occurs during a planet's transit. It provides the main means of measuring the sky-projected spin-orbit angle between a planet's orbital plane, and its host star's equatorial plane. Observing the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect is now a near routine procedure. It is an important element in the orbital characterisation of transiting exoplanets. Measurements of the spin-orbit angle have revealed a surprising diversity, far from the placid, Kantian and Laplacian ideals, whereby planets form, and remain, on orbital planes coincident with their star's equator. This chapter will review a short history of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, how it is modelled, and will summarise the current state of the field before describing other uses for a spectroscopic transit, and alternative methods of measuring the spin-orbit angle.