Exoplanets & Exomoons

Observed Properties of Extrasolar Planets

By Keith Cowing
SpaceRef
May 6, 2013
Filed under ,
Observed Properties of Extrasolar Planets
Extrasolar Planets
SpaceRef

Observational surveys for extrasolar planets probe the diverse outcomes of planet formation and evolution. These surveys measure the frequency of planets with different masses, sizes, orbital characteristics, and host star properties. Small planets between the sizes of Earth and Neptune substantially outnumber Jupiter-sized planets.

The survey measurements support the core accretion model in which planets form by the accumulation of solids and then gas in protoplanetary disks. The diversity of exoplanetary characteristics demonstrates that most of the gross features of the Solar system are one outcome in a continuum of possibilities. The most common class of planetary system detectable today consists of one or more planets approximately one to three times Earth’s size orbiting within a fraction of the Earth-Sun distance.

Andrew W. Howard
(Submitted on 2 May 2013)

Comments: Appeared in Science, this http URL, 15 pages, 4 figures
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Journal reference: Science, 340, 572 (2013)
DOI: 10.1126/science.1233545
Cite as: arXiv:1305.0542 [astro-ph.EP]

(or arXiv:1305.0542v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Andrew Howard [view email]
[v1] Thu, 2 May 2013 19:18:19 GMT (1434kb)

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻