Related papers: Understanding the Mass-Radius Relation for Sub-Nep…
A systematic, population-level discrepancy exists between the densities of exoplanets whose masses have been measured with transit timing variations (TTVs) versus those measured with radial velocities (RVs). Since the TTV planets are…
Exoplanets smaller than Neptune are numerous, but the nature of the planet populations in the 1-4 Earth radii range remains a mystery. The complete Kepler sample of Q1-Q17 exoplanet candidates shows a radius gap at ~ 2 Earth radii, as…
Planets and the stars they orbit are born from the same cloud of gas and dust, and the primordial compositions of rocky exoplanets have been assumed to have iron and refractory abundance ratios consistent with their host star. To test this…
Among exoplanets, the small-size population constitutes the dominant one, with a diversity of properties and compositions ranging from rocky to gas dominated envelope. While a large fraction of them have masses and radii similar to or…
The observed distribution of radii for exoplanets shows a bimodal form that can be explained by mass-loss from planetary atmospheres due to high energy radiation emitted by their host stars. The location of the minimum of this radius…
Massive and water-rich planets should be ubiquitous in the universe. Many of those worlds are expected to be subject to important irradiation from their host star, and display supercritical water layers surrounded by extended steam…
Planets with sizes between those of Earth and Neptune divide into two populations: purely rocky bodies whose atmospheres contribute negligibly to their sizes, and larger gas-enveloped planets possessing voluminous and optically thick…
Modeling the interior of exoplanets is essential to go further than the conclusions provided by mean density measurements. In addition to the still limited precision on the planets' fundamental parameters, models are limited by the…
The majority of discovered exoplanetary systems harbour a new class of planets, bodies typically several times more massive than Earth but orbiting their host stars well inside the orbit of Mercury. The origin of these close-in super-Earths…
The masses and radii of exoplanets are fundamental quantities needed for their characterisation. Studying the different populations of exoplanets is important for understanding the demographics of the different planetary types, which can…
The characteristics of the radius valley, i.e., an observed lack of planets between 1.5-2 Earth radii at periods shorter than about 100 days, provide insights into the formation and evolution of close-in planets. We present a novel view of…
While recent planet-formation models broadly reproduce the observed population of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, as well as the bimodal radius distribution (the ``radius valley''), it remains unclear whether all these planets share a…
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…
We use new interior models of cold planets to investigate the mass-radius relationships of solid exoplanets, considering planets made primarily of iron, silicates, water, and carbon compounds. We find that the mass-radius relationships for…
The radius valley, i.e., a dearth of planets with radii between 1.5 and 2 Earth radii, provides insights into planetary formation and evolution. Using homogenously revised planetary parameters from Kepler 1-minute short cadence light…
The Kepler mission enabled us to look at the intrinsic population of exoplanets within our galaxy. In period-radius space, the distribution of the intrinsic population of planets contains structure that can trace planet formation and…
Neptunes and sub-Neptunes are typically modeled under the assumption that the interior is adiabatic and consists of distinct layers. However, formation models indicate that composition gradients can exist. Such composition gradients can…
Recent astronomical observations obtained with the Kepler and TESS missions and their related ground-based follow-ups revealed an abundance of exoplanets with a size intermediate between Earth and Neptune. A low occurrence rate of planets…
The radius valley, a dip in the radius distribution of exoplanets at ~1.9 Earth radii separates compact rocky Super-Earths and Sub-Neptunes with lower density. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the radius valley.…
A remarkable discovery of NASA's Kepler mission is the wide diversity in the average densities of planets of similar mass. After gas disk dissipation, fully formed planets could interact with nearby planetesimals from a remnant planetesimal…