Shallower radius valley around low-mass hosts: evidence for icy planets, collisions, or high-energy radiation scatter
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Published version
Author(s)
Ho, Cynthia SK
Rogers, James G
Van Eylen, Vincent
Owen, James E
Schlichting, Hilke E
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The radius valley, i.e. a dearth of planets with radii between 1.5 and 2 Earth radii, provides insights into planetary formation and evolution. Using homogenously revised planetary parameters from Kepler 1-min short cadence light curves, we remodel transits of 72 small planets mostly orbiting low-mass stars, improving the precision and accuracy of planet parameters. By combining this sample with a similar sample of planets around higher mass stars, we determine the depth of the radius valley as a function of stellar mass. We find that the radius valley is shallower for low-mass stars compared to their higher mass counterparts. Upon comparison, we find that theoretical models of photoevaporation underpredict the number of planets observed inside the radius valley for low-mass stars: with decreasing stellar mass, the predicted fraction of planets inside the valley remains approximately constant whereas the observed fraction increases. We argue that this provides evidence for the presence of icy planets around low-mass stars. Alternatively, planets orbiting low-mass stars undergo more frequent collisions and scatter in the stars’ high-energy output may also cause planets to fill the valley. We predict that more precise mass measurements for planets orbiting low-mass stars would be able to distinguish between these scenarios.
Date Issued
2024-07
Date Acceptance
2024-05-24
Citation
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2024, 531 (3), pp.3698-3714
ISSN
0035-8711
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
3698
End Page
3714
Journal / Book Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume
531
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Author(s).
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Identifier
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/531/3/3698/7686126
Subjects
Astronomy & Astrophysics
CIRCLE-PLUS
GIANT IMPACTS
HOT JUPITER
K-DWARF
KEPLER PLANETS
MINI-NEPTUNE
Physical Sciences
planets and satellites: composition
planets and satellites: formation
planets and satellites: physical evolution
planets and satellites: terrestrial planets
Science & Technology
STELLAR PROPERTIES
SUB-NEPTUNE
SUPER-EARTH
SYSTEM
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-05-31