Related papers: Mass-Radius Relationships for Solid Exoplanets
The pathway to forming the iron-rich planet Mercury remains mysterious. Mercury's core makes up 70% of the planetary mass, which implies a significant enrichment of iron relative to silicates, while its mantle is strongly depleted in…
A classification system is presented for characterizing the composition of planetary bodies. From mass-radius and mass-density relationships, planets may be broadly grouped into five composition classes identified as: Gas Giant, Rock-Ice…
In this review, we summarize our present knowledge of the behaviour of the mass-radius relationship from solar-type stars down to terrestrial planets, across the regime of substellar objects, brown dwarfs and giant planets. Particular…
Mercury's high uncompressed mass density suggests that the planet is largely composed of iron, either bound within metal (mainly Fe-Ni), or iron sulfide. Recent results from the MESSENGER mission to Mercury imply a low temperature history…
With the progress of detection techniques, the number of low-mass and small-size exoplanets is increasing rapidly. However their characteristics and formation mechanisms are not yet fully understood. The metallicity of the host star is a…
Being one of the most fundamental physical parameter of astronomical objects, mass plays a vital role in the study of exoplanets, including their temperature structure, chemical composition, formation, and evolution. However, nearly a…
In this short review, we summarize our present understanding (and non-understanding) of exoplanet formation, structure and evolution, in the light of the most recent discoveries. Recent observations of transiting massive brown dwarfs seem…
Context. The chemical composition of planets is an important constraint for planet formation and subsequent differentiation. While theoretical studies try to derive the compositions of planets from planet formation models in order to link…
Planets less massive than about 10 MEarth are expected to have no massive H-He atmosphere and a cometary composition (50% rocks, 50% water, by mass) provided they formed beyond the snowline of protoplanetary disks. Due to inward migration,…
The radius-period distribution of exoplanets has been characterized by the \textit{Kepler} survey, and the empirical mass-radius relation by the subset of \textit{Kepler} planets with mass measurements. We combine the two in order to…
We investigate the migration of massive extrasolar planets due to gravitational interaction with a viscous protoplanetary disc. We show that a model in which planets form at 5 AU at a constant rate, before migrating, leads to a predicted…
We discuss our current understanding of the interior structure and thermal evolution of giant planets. This includes the gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, as well as the "ice…
Star compositions are essential for examining densities and compositional ranges of rocky exoplanets, testing their similarity to Earth. Stellar elemental abundances and planetary orbital data show that of the ~5000 known minerals,…
Observations of exoplanet atmospheres have shown that aerosols, like in the Solar System, are common across a variety of temperatures and planet types. The formation and distribution of these aerosols are inextricably intertwined with the…
Chondrites, the building blocks of the terrestrial planets, have mass and atomic proportions of oxygen, iron, magnesium, and silicon totaling $\geq$90\% and variable Mg/Si ($\sim$25\%), Fe/Si (factor of $\geq$2), and Fe/O (factor of…
To ascertain whether magnetic dynamos operate in rocky exoplanets more massive or hotter than the Earth, we developed a parametric model of a differentiated rocky planet and its thermal evolution. Our model reproduces the established…
A terrestrial planet is molten during formation and may remain so if subject to intense insolation or tidal forces. Observations continue to favour the detection and characterisation of hot planets, potentially with large outgassed…
Exoplanets number in their thousands, and the number is ever increasing with the advent of new surveys and improved instrumentation. One of the most surprising things we have learnt from these discoveries is not that small-rocky planets in…
The characterization of Super-Earth-to-Neptune sized exoplanets relies heavily on our understanding of their formation and evolution. In this study, we link a model of planet formation by pebble accretion to the planets' long-term…
With improving methods and surveys, the young field of extrasolar planets has recently expanded into a qualitatively new domain - terrestrial (mostly rocky) planets. The first such planets were discovered during the past year, judging by…