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Register a new userThe California-Kepler Survey. VI: Kepler Multis and Singles Have Similar Planet and Stellar Properties Indicating a Common Origin
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The California-Kepler Survey (CKS) catalog contains precise stellar and planetary properties for the Kepler planet candidates, including systems with multiple detected transiting planets (multis) and systems with just one detected transiting planet (singles, although additional planets could exist). We compared the stellar and planetary properties of the multis and singles in a homogenous subset of the full CKS-Gaia catalog. We found that sub-Neptune sized singles and multis do not differ in their stellar properties or planet radii. In particular: (1.) The distributions of stellar properties $M_star$, [Fe/H], and $vmathrm{sin}i$ for the Kepler sub Neptune-sized singles and multis are statistically indistinguishable. (2.) The radius distributions of the sub-Neptune sized singles and multis with $P > 3$ days are indistinguishable, and both have a valley at $sim1.8~R_oplus$. However, there are significantly more detected short-period ($P < 3$ days), sub-Neptune sized singles than multis. The similarity of the host star properties, planet radii, and radius valley for singles and multis suggests a common origin. The similar radius valley, which is likely sculpted by photo-evaporation from the host star within the first 100 Myr, suggests that planets in both singles and multis spend much of the first 100 Myr near their present, close-in locations. One explanation that is consistent with the similar fundamental properties of singles and multis is that many of the singles are members of multi-planet systems that underwent planet-planet scattering.
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We have established precise planet radii, semimajor axes, incident stellar fluxes, and stellar masses for 909 planets in 355 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler. In this sample, we find that planets within a single multi-planet system have correlated sizes: each planet is more likely to be the size of its neighbor than a size drawn at random from the distribution of observed planet sizes. In systems with three or more planets, the planets tend to have a regular spacing: the orbital period ratios of adjacent pairs of planets are correlated. Furthermore, the orbital period ratios are smaller in systems with smaller planets, suggesting that the patterns in planet sizes and spacing are linked through formation and/or subsequent orbital dynamics. Yet, we find that essentially no planets have orbital period ratios smaller than $1.2$, regardless of planet size. Using empirical mass-radius relationships, we estimate the mutual Hill separations of planet pairs. We find that $93%$ of the planet pairs are at least 10 mutual Hill radii apart, and that a spacing of $sim20$ mutual Hill radii is most common. We also find that when comparing planet sizes, the outer planet is larger in $65 pm 0.4%$ of cases, and the typical ratio of the outer to inner planet size is positively correlated with the temperature difference between the planets. This could be the result of photo-evaporation.
Studies of exoplanet demographics require large samples and precise constraints on exoplanet host stars. Using the homogeneous Kepler stellar properties derived using Gaia Data Release 2 by Berger et al. (2020), we re-compute Kepler planet radii and incident fluxes and investigate their distributions with stellar mass and age. We measure the stellar mass dependence of the planet radius valley to be $d log R_{mathrm{p}}$/$d log M_star = 0.26^{+0.21}_{-0.16}$, consistent with the slope predicted by a planet mass dependence on stellar mass ($0.24-0.35$) and core-powered mass-loss (0.33). We also find first evidence of a stellar age dependence of the planet populations straddling the radius valley. Specifically, we determine that the fraction of super-Earths ($1-1.8 mathrm{R_oplus}$) to sub-Neptunes ($1.8-3.5 mathrm{R_oplus}$) increases from $0.61 pm 0.09$ at young ages (< 1 Gyr) to $1.00 pm 0.10$ at old ages (> 1 Gyr), consistent with the prediction by core-powered mass-loss that the mechanism shaping the radius valley operates over Gyr timescales. Additionally, we find a tentative decrease in the radii of relatively cool ($F_{mathrm{p}} < 150 mathrm{F_oplus}$) sub-Neptunes over Gyr timescales, which suggests that these planets may possess H/He envelopes instead of higher mean molecular weight atmospheres. We confirm the existence of planets within the hot sub-Neptunian desert ($2.2 < R_{mathrm{p}} < 3.8 mathrm{R_oplus}$, $F_{mathrm{p}} > 650 mathrm{F_oplus}$) and show that these planets are preferentially orbiting more evolved stars compared to other planets at similar incident fluxes. In addition, we identify candidates for cool ($F_{mathrm{p}} < 20 mathrm{F_oplus}$) inflated Jupiters, present a revised list of habitable zone candidates, and find that the ages of single- and multiple-transiting planet systems are statistically indistinguishable.
We report the discovery of a new Kepler transiting circumbinary planet (CBP). This latest addition to the still-small family of CBPs defies the current trend of known short-period planets orbiting near the stability limit of binary stars. Unlike the previous discoveries, the planet revolving around the eclipsing binary system Kepler-1647 has a very long orbital period (~1100 days) and was at conjunction only twice during the Kepler mission lifetime. Due to the singular configuration of the system, Kepler-1647b is not only the longest-period transiting CBP at the time of writing, but also one of the longest-period transiting planets. With a radius of 1.06+/-0.01 RJup it is also the largest CBP to date. The planet produced three transits in the light-curve of Kepler-1647 (one of them during an eclipse, creating a syzygy) and measurably perturbed the times of the stellar eclipses, allowing us to measure its mass to be 1.52+/-0.65 MJup. The planet revolves around an 11-day period eclipsing binary consisting of two Solar-mass stars on a slightly inclined, mildly eccentric (e_bin = 0.16), spin-synchronized orbit. Despite having an orbital period three times longer than Earths, Kepler-1647b is in the conservative habitable zone of the binary star throughout its orbit.
The size of a planet is an observable property directly connected to the physics of its formation and evolution. We used precise radius measurements from the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) to study the size distribution of 2025 $textit{Kepler}$ planets in fine detail. We detect a factor of $geq$2 deficit in the occurrence rate distribution at 1.5-2.0 R$_{oplus}$. This gap splits the population of close-in ($P$ < 100 d) small planets into two size regimes: R$_P$ < 1.5 R$_{oplus}$ and R$_P$ = 2.0-3.0 R$_{oplus}$, with few planets in between. Planets in these two regimes have nearly the same intrinsic frequency based on occurrence measurements that account for planet detection efficiencies. The paucity of planets between 1.5 and 2.0 R$_{oplus}$ supports the emerging picture that close-in planets smaller than Neptune are composed of rocky cores measuring 1.5 R$_{oplus}$ or smaller with varying amounts of low-density gas that determine their total sizes.
Probing the connection between a stars metallicity and the presence and properties of any associated planets offers an observational link between conditions during the epoch of planet formation and mature planetary systems. We explore this connection by analyzing the metallicities of Kepler target stars and the subset of stars found to host transiting planets. After correcting for survey incompleteness, we measure planet occurrence: the number of planets per 100 stars with a given metallicity $M$. Planet occurrence correlates with metallicity for some, but not all, planet sizes and orbital periods. For warm super-Earths having $P = 10-100$ days and $R_P = 1.0-1.7~R_E$, planet occurrence is nearly constant over metallicities spanning $-$0.4 dex to +0.4 dex. We find 20 warm super-Earths per 100 stars, regardless of metallicity. In contrast, the occurrence of warm sub-Neptunes ($R_P = 1.7-4.0~R_E$) doubles over that same metallicity interval, from 20 to 40 planets per 100 stars. We model the distribution of planets as $d f propto 10^{beta M} d M$, where $beta$ characterizes the strength of any metallicity correlation. This correlation steepens with decreasing orbital period and increasing planet size. For warm super-Earths $beta = -0.3^{+0.2}_{-0.2}$, while for hot Jupiters $beta = +3.4^{+0.9}_{-0.8}$. High metallicities in protoplanetary disks may increase the mass of the largest rocky cores or the speed at which they are assembled, enhancing the production of planets larger than 1.7 $R_E$. The association between high metallicity and short-period planets may reflect disk density profiles that facilitate the inward migration of solids or higher rates of planet-planet scattering.
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