skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A STATISTICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PLANET POPULATION AROUND KEPLER SOLAR-TYPE STARS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 (Canada)
  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

Using the cumulative catalog of planets detected by the NASA Kepler mission, we reconstruct the intrinsic occurrence of Earth- to Neptune-size (1-4 R {sub ⊕}) planets and their distributions with radius and orbital period. We analyze 76,711 solar-type (0.8 < R {sub *}/R {sub ☉} < 1.2) stars with 430 planets on 20-200 day orbits, excluding close-in planets that may have been affected by the proximity to the host star. Our analysis considers errors in planet radii and includes an ''iterative simulation'' technique that does not bin the data. We find a radius distribution that peaks at 2-2.8 Earth radii, with lower numbers of smaller and larger planets. These planets are uniformly distributed with logarithmic period, and the mean number of such planets per star is 0.46 ± 0.03. The occurrence is ∼0.66 if planets interior to 20 days are included. We estimate the occurrence of Earth-size planets in the ''habitable zone'' (defined as 1-2 R {sub ⊕}, 0.99-1.7 AU for solar-twin stars) as 6.4{sub −1.1}{sup +3.4}%. Our results largely agree with those of Petigura et al., although we find a higher occurrence of 2.8-4 Earth-radii planets. The reasons for this excess are the inclusion of errors in planet radius, updated Huber et al. stellar parameters, and also the exclusion of planets that may have been affected by proximity to the host star.

OSTI ID:
22364341
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 799, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

PLANET OCCURRENCE WITHIN 0.25 AU OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS FROM KEPLER
Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series · OSTI ID:22364341

The Gaia–Kepler Stellar Properties Catalog. II. Planet Radius Demographics as a Function of Stellar Mass and Age
Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) · OSTI ID:22364341

Two small temperate planets transiting nearby M dwarfs in K2 campaigns 0 and 1
Journal Article · Wed Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:22364341