Growth model interpretation of planet size distribution [Astronomy]

The radii and orbital periods of 4,000+ confirmed/candidate exoplanets have been precisely measured by the Kepler mission. The radii show a bimodal distribution, with two peaks corresponding to smaller planets (likely rocky) and larger intermediate-size planets, respectively. While only the masses of the planets orbiting the brightest stars can be...

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - May 13, 2019 Category: Science Authors: Li Zeng, Stein B. Jacobsen, Dimitar D. Sasselov, Michail I. Petaev, Andrew Vanderburg, Mercedes Lopez-Morales, Juan Perez-Mercader, Thomas R. Mattsson, Gongjie Li, Matthew Z. Heising, Aldo S. Bonomo, Mario Damasso, Travis A. Berger, Hao Cao, Amit Levi, Ro Tags: Physical Sciences Source Type: research