Related papers: A Distinct Population of Small Planets: Sub-Earths
The population of small, close-in exoplanets is bifurcated into super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. We calculate physically motivated mass-radius relations for sub-Neptunes, with rocky cores and H/He dominated atmospheres, accounting for their…
Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes represent the most common class of exoplanets discovered to date in our galaxy, yet they have no direct analogues in the Solar System. Since 2014, researchers within the NCCR PlanetS have made significant…
In protoplanetary disks, sufficiently massive planets excite pressure bumps, which can then be preferred locations for forming new planet cores. We discuss how this loop may affect the architecture of multi-planet systems, and compare our…
The search for habitable planets like Earth around other stars fulfils an ancient imperative to understand our origins and place in the cosmos. The past decade has seen the discovery of hundreds of planets, but nearly all are gas giants…
It has long been known that stars with high metallicity are more likely to host giant planets than stars with low metallicity. Yet the connection between host star metallicity and the properties of small planets is only just beginning to be…
The questions of how planets form and how common Earth-like planets are can be addressed by measuring the distribution of exoplanet masses and orbital periods. We report the occurrence rate of close-in planets (with orbital periods less…
From wispy gas giants on the verge of disruption to tiny rocky bodies already falling apart, short-period exoplanets pose a severe puzzle to theories of planet formation and orbital evolution. By far most of the planets known beyond the…
Ultra-short period (USP) planets are an enigmatic subset of exoplanets defined by having orbital periods $<$ 1 day. It is still not understood how USP planets form, or to what degree they differ from planets with longer orbital periods.…
One of the most significant advances by NASA's ${\mathit Kepler}$ Mission was the discovery of an abundant new population of highly irradiated planets with sizes between the Earth and Neptune. Subsequent analysis showed that at ~1.5 Earth…
The majority of the transiting planets discovered by the Kepler mission (called super-Earths here, includes the so-called 'sub-Neptunes') orbit close to their stars. As such, photoevaporation of their hydrogen envelopes etch sharp features…
Hot super-Earths are exoplanets with masses < 10 Earth masses and orbital periods < 20 days. Around 8 hot super-Earths have been discovered in the neighborhood of solar system. In this lecture, we review the mechanisms for the formation of…
Super-Earths with orbital periods less than 100 days are extremely abundant around Sun-like stars. It is unlikely that these planets formed at their current locations. Rather, they likely formed at large distances from the star and…
The riddle posed by super-Earths (1-4$R_\oplus$, 2-20$M_\oplus$) is that they are not Jupiters: their core masses are large enough to trigger runaway gas accretion, yet somehow super-Earths accreted atmospheres that weigh only a few percent…
Exoplanets smaller than Neptune are common around red dwarf stars (M dwarfs), with those that transit their host star constituting the bulk of known temperate worlds amenable for atmospheric characterization. We analyze the masses and radii…
"Hot super-Earths" (or "Mini-Neptunes") between 1 and 4 times Earth's size with period shorter than 100 days orbit 30-50\% of Sun-like type stars. Their orbital configuration -- measured as the period ratio distribution of adjacent planets…
The formation of super-Earths, the most abundant planets in the Galaxy, remains elusive. These planets have masses that typically exceed that of the Earth by a factor of a few; appear to be predominantly rocky, although often surrounded by…
The recent discovery of a staggering diversity of planets beyond the Solar System has brought with it a greatly expanded search space for habitable worlds. The Kepler exoplanet survey has revealed that most planets in our interstellar…
For the origin of the radially concentrated solar system's terrestrial planets, planet formation from a ring of solids at about 1 au from the Sun with convergent/suppressed type I migration is preferred. On the other hand, many super-Earths…
The Kepler high-precision planetary sample has revealed a radius valley, separating compact super-Earths from sub-Neptunes with lower density. Super-Earths are generally assumed to be rocky planets that were probably born in-situ, while the…
Exoplanets around different types of stars provide a window into the diverse environments in which planets form. This chapter describes the observed relations between exoplanet populations and stellar properties and how they connect to…