Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21933915p&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #339.15
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The metallicity distribution of Kepler planet host candidates is explored using metallicities from the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC, Brown et al. 2011). The metallicity distribution of the KIC, with a modal metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.11 (average [Fe/H] = -0.18, σ=0.28 dex) is similar to the metallicity distribution of stars in the solar neighborhood from Holmberg et al. (2007), with a modal metallicity at [Fe/H] = -0.09 (average [Fe/H] = -0.15, σ = 0.20 dex), suggesting that the metallicities reported in the KIC are of sufficient accuracy to provide useful information about the metallicity distribution of planet hosts. Candidate planet hosts with temperatures cooler than 4000K have been eliminated, as have candidate hosts with metallicities below [Fe/H] = -1.0, because of uncertainties in the KIC metallicity calibration. Candidate hosts with multiple planets have only been included once, based on the most massive planet candidate. Sorting the planet host candidates by the size of the largest planet candidate, we find average KIC metallicities of stars hosting candidate Earth size planets to be [Fe/H] = -0.24 +/- 0.04; of stars hosting candidate super Earth planets to be [Fe/H] = -0.15 +/- 0.02; of stars hosting candidate Neptune size planets to be -0.14 +/- 0.01; of stars hosting candidate Jupiter size planets to be [Fe/H] = -0.090 +/- 0.02; and of stars hosting candidate super Jupiter size planets to be [Fe/H] = -0.013 +/- 0.04. The errors are standard error of the mean. The average metallicity of a planet host appears to increase with planet size, suggesting that stars with higher metallicity are more likely to make large planets, but that lower metallicity stars are as likely as metal-rich stars to make smaller planets.
Monroe TalaWanda R.
Pilachowski Catherine A.
Rebull Luisa M.
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