UNI-MB - logo
UMNIK - logo
 
E-viri
Celotno besedilo
Recenzirano Odprti dostop
  • Investigating the Atmospher...
    Householder, Aaron; Weiss, Lauren M.; Owen, James E.; Isaacson, Howard; Howard, Andrew W.; Fabrycky, Daniel; Rogers, Leslie A.; Schlichting, Hilke E.; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Petigura, Erik A.; Giacalone, Steven; Murphy, Joseph M. Akana; Beard, Corey; Chontos, Ashley; Dai, Fei; Van Zandt, Judah; Lubin, Jack; Rice, Malena; Polanski, Alex S.; Dalba, Paul; Blunt, Sarah; Turtelboom, Emma V.; Rubenzahl, Ryan; Brinkman, Casey

    The Astronomical journal, 02/2024, Letnik: 167, Številka: 2
    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 ( R b = 2.53 ± 0.07 R ⊕ , P b = 5.41 days, R c = 1.44 ± 0.04 R ⊕ , P c = 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 M b = 10.8 ± 2.3 M ⊕ ( ρ b = 3.68 ± 0.84 g cm −3 ) and M c = 5.6 ± 1.2 M ⊕ ( ρ c = 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.