Investigating the atmospheric mass loss of the Kepler-105 planets straddling the radius gap
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
An intriguing pattern among exoplanets is the lack of detected planets between approximately 1.5 R⊕ and 2.0 R⊕. One proposed explanation for this "radius gap" is the photoevaporation of planetary atmospheres, a theory that can be tested by studying individual planetary systems. Kepler-105 is an ideal system for such testing due to the ordering and sizes of its planets. Kepler-105 is a Sun-like star that hosts two planets straddling the radius gap in a rare architecture with the larger planet closer to the host star (Rb = 2.53 ± 0.07 R⊕, Pb = 5.41 days, Rc = 1.44 ± 0.04 R⊕, Pc = 7.13 days). If photoevaporation sculpted the atmospheres of these planets, then Kepler-105b would need to be much more massive than Kepler-105c to retain its atmosphere, given its closer proximity to the host star. To test this hypothesis, we simultaneously analyzed radial velocities and transit-timing variations of the Kepler-105 system, measuring disparate masses of Mb = 10.8 ± 2.3 M⊕ (ρb = 3.68 ± 0.84 g cm−3) and Mc = 5.6 ± 1.2 M⊕ (ρc = 10.4 ± 2.39 g cm−3). Based on these masses, the difference in gas envelope content of the Kepler-105 planets could be entirely due to photoevaporation (in 76% of scenarios), although other mechanisms like core-powered mass loss could have played a role for some planet albedos.
Date Issued
2024-02-01
Date Acceptance
2023-12-05
Citation
The Astronomical Journal, 2024, 167 (2)
ISSN
0004-6256
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Journal / Book Title
The Astronomical Journal
Volume
167
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad19c6
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
84
Date Publish Online
2024-01-31