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In recent years, there has been interest in Earth-like exoplanets in thehabitable zones of low mass stars ($\sim0.1-0.6\,M_\odot$). Furthermore, it hasbeen argued that a large moon may be important for stabilizing conditions on aplanet for life. If these two features are combined, then an exoplanet can feela similar tidal influence from both its moon and parent star, leading topotentially interesting dynamics. The moon's orbital evolution depends on theexoplanet's initial spin period $P_0$. When $P_0$ is small, transfer of theexoplanet's angular momentum to the moon's orbit can cause the moon to migrateoutward sufficiently to be stripped by the star. When $P_0$ is large, the moonmigrates less and the star's tidal torques spin down the exoplanet. Tidalinteractions then cause the moon to migrate inward until it is likely tidallydisrupted by the exoplanet and potentially produces rings. While one may thinkthat these findings preclude the presence of moons for the exoplanets of lowmass stars, in fact a wide range of timescales are found for the loss ordestruction of the moon; it can take $\sim10^6-10^{10}\,{\rm yrs}$ depending onthe system parameters. When the moon is still present, the combined tidaltorques force the exoplanet to spin asynchronously with respect to both itsmoon and parent star, which tidally heats the exoplanet. This can produce heatfluxes comparable to those currently coming through the Earth, arguing thatcombined tides may be a method for driving tectonic activity in exoplanets.

Exoplanets Torqued by the Combined Tides of a Moon and Parent Star