On The Nature Of Small Planets Around K And M Stars

Details On The Nature Of Small Planets Around K And M Stars On The Nature Of Small Planets Around K And M Stars

Sep 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011ess.....2.2701g&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, ESS meeting #2, #27.01

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

We compare 1406 Keck/HIRES radial velocity measurements of 172 late K and early M stars to a model based on Kepler candidate planet radii and a planetary mass-radius relation. The observed distribution of radial velocity variation can be closely reproduced by the model, but only if Kepler observations are 50% complete for these spectral types. Stellar noise on orbital timescales may partly explain this discrepancy. Alternatively, the distribution of stars hosting candidate Kepler planets with visible and near-infrared colors and log g suggests that many K-type Kepler targets are subgiants or giants, around which small planets are very difficult to detect. Our comparison of observed and predicted radial velocity variations constrains the mass-radius relation of planets much smaller than Neptune (<3 Earth radii). The index alpha of a power-law relation is highly correlated with systematic noise, but for a noise level of 3 m/s, alpha 4. Alternatively, a uniform density mass-radius relation requires a density beta (relative to Earth) 2. These findings indicate that rocky planets dominate the planet population on close orbits around late K and early M dwarfs. This work has been funded by the NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics program, the NASA Astrobiology program, and the NASA Origins of Solar Systems program.

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