ALL SIX PLANETS KNOWN TO ORBIT KEPLER-11 HAVE LOW DENSITIES
Name
Lissauer-2013-ALL SIX PLANETS KNOW.pdf
Size
1.35 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
fa76a07bfcef897f673aa2b018b22afb
Author(s)
Lissauer, Jack J.
Jontof-Hutter, Daniel
Rowe, Jason F.
Fabrycky, Daniel C.
Lopez, Eric D.
Agol, Eric
Marcy, Geoffrey W.
Deck, Katherine M.
Fischer, Debra A.
Fortney, Jonathan J.
Date Issued
June 2013
Journal
Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
Institute of Physics/American Astronomical Society
Citation
Lissauer, Jack J., Daniel Jontof-Hutter, Jason F. Rowe, Daniel C. Fabrycky, Eric D. Lopez, Eric Agol, Geoffrey W. Marcy, et al. “ALL SIX PLANETS KNOWN TO ORBIT KEPLER-11 HAVE LOW DENSITIES.” The Astrophysical Journal 770, no. 2 (June 4, 2013): 131. © 2013 American Astronomical Society.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The Kepler-11 planetary system contains six transiting planets ranging in size from 1.8 to 4.2 times the radius of Earth. Five of these planets orbit in a tightly packed configuration with periods between 10 and 47 days. We perform a dynamical analysis of the system based upon transit timing variations observed in more than three years of Kepler photometric data. Stellar parameters are derived using a combination of spectral classification and constraints on the star's density derived from transit profiles together with planetary eccentricity vectors provided by our dynamical study. Combining masses of the planets relative to the star from our dynamical study and radii of the planets relative to the star from transit depths together with deduced stellar properties yields measurements of the radii of all six planets, masses of the five inner planets, and an upper bound to the mass of the outermost planet, whose orbital period is 118 days. We find mass-radius combinations for all six planets that imply that substantial fractions of their volumes are occupied by constituents that are less dense than rock. Moreover, we examine the stability of these envelopes against photoevaporation and find that the compositions of at least the inner two planets have likely been significantly sculpted by mass loss. The Kepler-11 system contains the lowest mass exoplanets for which both mass and radius have been measured.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/770/2/131
