Comparing The Architectures Of Multiplanet Systems From Kepler, K2, And TESS Data

Exoplanet surveys like Kepler, TESS, and K2 have shown that planetary systems are common in our galaxy.

These surveys, along with several others, have identified thousands of planetary candidates, with more than five thousand having already been confirmed. Many of these planetary systems host multiple planets. As we discover more multiplanet systems, notable trends begin to appear in the data.

We use kernel density estimation (KDE) to analyze the period ratios of adjacent planet pairs in multiplanet systems in the most recent Kepler, TESS and K2 data, paying particular attention to pairs in first order mean motion resonance (MMR).

We compare a recent Kepler catalog with the DR25 data release. We also compare TESS and K2 against the latest Kepler catalog. To verify the significance of our findings against selection bias, we perform Monte Carlo simulations of multiplanet systems, finding an excess of planet pairs near the 2.2, 2 (2:1), and 1.5 (3:2) period ratios in the Kepler, K2, and TESS catalogs, all exceeding the 99% confidence interval when constrained to orbital periods less than 25 days.

We identify two planet pairs orbiting M dwarf stars in a very tight ratio, as well as two likely misidentified planet pairs.

Robert Royer III, Jason H. Steffen

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:2506.20654 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2506.20654v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.20654
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Submission history
From: Robert Royer Iii
[v1] Wed, 25 Jun 2025 17:51:20 UTC (1,209 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20654
Astrobiology,