Three regimes of extrasolar planet radius inferred from host star metallicities

被引:231
作者
Buchhave, Lars A. [1 ,2 ]
Bizzarro, Martin [2 ]
Latham, David W. [1 ]
Sasselov, Dimitar [1 ]
Cochran, William D. [3 ]
Endl, Michael [3 ]
Isaacson, Howard [4 ]
Juncher, Diana [2 ,5 ]
Marcy, Geoffrey W. [4 ]
机构
[1] Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
[2] Univ Copenhagen, Nat Hist Museum Denmark, Ctr Star & Planet Format, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
[3] Univ Texas Austin, McDonald Observ, Austin, TX 78712 USA
[4] Univ Calif Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
[5] Univ Copenhagen, Niels Bohr Inst, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
基金
欧洲研究理事会; 新加坡国家研究基金会;
关键词
KEPLER PLANETS; MASS PLANETS; MIGRATION; PARAMETERS; EXOPLANETS; RANGE;
D O I
10.1038/nature13254
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Approximately half of the extrasolar planets (exoplanets) with radii less than four Earth radii are in orbits with short periods(1). Despite their sheer abundance, the compositions of such planets are largely unknown. The available evidence suggests that they range in composition from small, high-density rocky planets to low-density planets consisting of rocky cores surrounded by thick hydrogen and helium gas envelopes. Here we report the metallicities (that is, the abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) of more than 400 stars hosting 600 exoplanet candidates, and find that the exoplanets can be categorized into three populations defined by statistically distinct (similar to 4.5 sigma) metallicity regions. We interpret these regions as reflecting the formation regimes of terrestrial-like planets (radii less than 1.7 Earth radii), gas dwarf planets with rocky cores and hydrogen-helium envelopes (radii between 1.7 and 3.9 Earth radii) and ice or gas giant planets (radii greater than 3.9 Earth radii). These transitions correspond well with those inferred from dynamical mass estimates(2,3), implying that host star metallicity, which is a proxy for the initial solids inventory of the protoplanetary disk, is a key ingredient regulating the structure of planetary systems.
引用
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页码:593 / +
页数:4
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