Search Publications

The orbital eccentricity distribution of planets orbiting M dwarfs

Ballard, Sarah; Sagear, Sheila

The orbital eccentricities of exoplanets orbiting M dwarf stars may significantly affect their habitability but are unknown. We extract this eccentricity distribution using a sample of transiting planets orbiting M dwarfs detected by NASA's Kepler Mission with stellar density measurements. We find planets in apparently single-transiting systems ar…

The evolution of hot Jupiters revealed by the age distribution of their host stars

Huang, Yang; Dong, Subo; Luo, A. -Li +11 more

Hot Jupiters are the first exoplanet population discovered around main-sequence stars. However, their origin and evolution remain puzzled. Using a sample with kinematic properties derived from large surveys (e.g., Gaia, LAMOST), we characterize the kinematic ages of stars hosting hot and warm/cold Jupiters, confirming the result of the previous st…

Growth model interpretation of planet size distribution

Vanderburg, Andrew; Cao, Hao; Berger, Travis A. +13 more

The radii and orbital periods of 4,000+ confirmed/candidate exoplanets have been precisely measured by the Kepler mission. The radii show a bimodal distribution, with two peaks corresponding to smaller planets (likely rocky) and larger intermediate-size planets, respectively. While only the masses of the planets orbiting the brightest stars can be…