Related papers: The Radius Distribution of M dwarf-hosted Planets …
Understanding the occurrence of Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars is essential to the search for Earth analogues. Yet a lack of reliable Kepler detections for such planets has forced many estimates to be derived…
M-dwarf stars -- hydrogen-burning stars that are smaller than 60 per cent of the size of the Sun -- are the most common class of star in our Galaxy and outnumber Sun-like stars by a ratio of 12:1. Recent results have shown that M dwarfs…
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…
The observed radii distribution of {\it Kepler} exoplanets reveals two distinct populations: those that are more likely to be terrestrials ($\lesssim1.7R_\oplus$) and those that are more likely to be gas-enveloped ($\gtrsim2R_\oplus$).…
Context: More than 50 exoplanets have been found around giant stars, revealing different properties when compared to planets orbiting solar-type stars. In particular, they are Super-Jupiters and are not found orbiting interior to $\sim$ 0.5…
Previous work has established the enhanced occurrence of compact systems of multiple small exoplanets around metal-poor stars. Understanding the origin of this effect in the planet formation process is a topic of ongoing research. Here we…
The sizes of small planets have been known to be bi-modal, with a gap separating planets that have lost their primordial atmospheres (super-Earths), and the ones that retain them (mini-Neptunes). Here, we report evidences for another…
Binary stars are ubiquitous; the majority of solar-type stars exist in binaries. Exoplanet occurrence rate is suppressed in binaries, but some multiples do still host planets. Binaries cause observational biases in planet parameters, with…
We have searched the Kepler light curves of ~3900 M-star targets for evidence of periodicities that indicate, by means of the effects of starspots, rapid stellar rotation. Several analysis techniques, including Fourier transforms,…
Terrestrial planets are more likely to be detected if they orbit M dwarfs due to the favorable planet/star size and mass ratios. However, M dwarf habitable zones are significantly closer to the star than the one around our Sun, which leads…
We constrain the densities of Earth- to Neptune-size planets around very cool (Te =3660-4660K) Kepler stars by comparing 1202 Keck/HIRES radial velocity measurements of 150 nearby stars to a model based on Kepler candidate planet radii and…
We carry out an independent search of Kepler photometry for small transiting planets with sizes 0.5--8.0 times that of Earth and orbital periods between 5 and 50 days, with the goal of measuring the fraction of stars harboring such planets.…
We present an all-sky catalog of 2970 nearby ($d \lesssim 50$ pc), bright ($J< 9$) M- or late K-type dwarf stars, 86% of which have been confirmed by spectroscopy. This catalog will be useful for searches for Earth-size and possibly…
The distribution of small planet radius ($<$4 R$_\oplus$) is an indicator of the underlying processes governing planet formation and evolution. We investigate the correlation between the radius distribution of exoplanets in \textit{Kepler}…
M subdwarfs are low-metallicity M dwarfs that typically inhabit the halo population of the Galaxy. Metallicity controls the opacity of stellar atmospheres; in metal poor stars, hydrostatic equilibrium is reached at a smaller radius, leading…
The Kepler Mission has found thousands of planetary candidates with radii between 1 and 4 R$_\oplus$. These planets have no analogues in our own Solar System, providing an unprecedented opportunity to understand the range and distribution…
The Kepler Mission has discovered thousands of planets with radii $<4\ R_\oplus$, paving the way for the first statistical studies of the dynamics, formation, and evolution of these sub-Neptunes and super-Earths. Planetary masses are an…
Recent astronomical observations, in particular from the Kepler and TESS missions and their related follow-ups, have revealed an abundance of exoplanets in the size range between Neptune (4 Earth radii) and Earth (1 Earth radii ), as well…
Rotation is a directly-observable stellar property, and drives magnetic field generation and activity through a magnetic dynamo. Main sequence stars with masses below approximately 0.35Msun (mid-to-late M dwarfs) are fully-convective, and…
Context: How planet properties depend on stellar mass is a key diagnostic of planetary formation mechanisms. Aims: This motivates planet searches around stars which are significantly more massive or less massive than the Sun, and in…