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Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

Anders Johansen

Professor

Anders Johansen. Profile picture.

An abundance of small exoplanets around stars with a wide range of metallicities

Author

  • Lars A. Buchhave
  • David W. Latham
  • Anders Johansen
  • Martin Bizzarro
  • Guillermo Torres
  • Jason F. Rowe
  • Natalie M. Batalha
  • William J. Borucki
  • Erik Brugamyer
  • Caroline Caldwell
  • Stephen T. Bryson
  • David R. Ciardi
  • William D. Cochran
  • Michael Endl
  • Gilbert A. Esquerdo
  • Eric B. Ford
  • John C. Geary
  • Ronald L. Gilliland
  • Terese Hansen
  • Howard Isaacson
  • John B. Laird
  • Philip W. Lucas
  • Geoffrey W. Marcy
  • Jon A. Morse
  • Paul Robertson
  • Avi Shporer
  • Robert P. Stefanik
  • Martin Still
  • Samuel N. Quinn

Summary, in English

The abundance of heavy elements (metallicity) in the photospheres of stars similar to the Sun provides a 'fossil' record of the chemical composition of the initial protoplanetary disk. Metal-rich stars are much more likely to harbour gas giant planets(1-4), supporting the model that planets form by accumulation of dust and ice particles(5). Recent ground-based surveys suggest that this correlation is weakened for Neptunian-sized planets(4,6-9). However, how the relationship between size and metallicity extends into the regime of terrestrial-sized exoplanets is unknown. Here we report spectroscopic metallicities of the host stars of 226 small exoplanet candidates discovered by NASA's Kepler mission(10), including objects that are comparable in size to the terrestrial planets in the Solar System. We find that planets with radii less than four Earth radii form around host stars with a wide range of metallicities (but on average a metallicity close to that of the Sun), whereas large planets preferentially form around stars with higher metallicities. This observation suggests that terrestrial planets may be widespread in the disk of the Galaxy, with no special requirement of enhanced metallicity for their formation.

Department/s

  • Lund Observatory - Undergoing reorganization

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Pages

375-377

Publication/Series

Nature

Volume

486

Issue

7403

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Topic

  • Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0028-0836