Water- and metal-rich atmospheres on compact hot mini-Neptunes lose mass more slowly than H/He cases at high enrichment levels due to enhanced cooling and higher mean molecular weight.
The Role of Core Mass in Controlling Evaporation: the Kepler Radius Distribution and the Kepler-36 Density Dichotomy
6 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
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Pith papers citing it
abstract
We use models of coupled thermal evolution and photo-evaporative mass loss to understand the formation and evolution of the Kepler-36 system. We show that the large contrast in mean planetary density observed by Carter et al. (2012) can be explained as a natural consequence of photo-evaporation from planets that formed with similar initial compositions. However, rather than being due to differences in XUV irradiation between the planets, we find that this contrast is due to the difference in the masses of the planets' rock/iron cores and the impact that this has on mass loss evolution. We explore in detail how our coupled models depend on irradiation, mass, age, composition, and the efficiency of mass loss. Based on fits to large numbers of coupled evolution and mass loss runs, we provide analytic fits to understand threshold XUV fluxes for significant atmospheric loss, as a function of core mass and mass loss efficiency. Finally we discuss these results in the context of recent studies of the radius distribution of Kepler candidates. Using our parameter study, we make testable predictions for the frequency of sub-Neptune sized planets. We show that 1.8-4.0 R_earth planets should become significantly less common on orbits within 10 days and discuss the possibility of a narrow "occurrence valley" in the radius-flux distribution. Moreover, we describe how photo-evaporation provides a natural explanation for the recent observations of Ciardi et al. (2013) that inner planets are preferentially smaller within the systems.
years
2026 6representative citing papers
Two extremely low-density Jupiter-sized planets on long-period orbits around TOI-791 were confirmed via ground-based photometry and TTV-derived masses.
Generates and publicly releases 81,498 detrended Kepler light curves plus a catalog of 87 periodic variables (26 new) in the 2.5 Gyr cluster NGC 6819 using Gaia DR3 for membership.
Validation of a 135 Myr, 3.6 R_E transiting planet with aligned obliquity and TTV evidence for a near-resonant companion.
Mass of 13.7 Earth masses and density 0.4 g cm^{-3} measured for TOI-1883 b, a super-Neptune in the ridge regime around an early-M dwarf, with implications for disk migration and photoevaporation.
citing papers explorer
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Escape of Water- and Metal-enriched Atmospheres from compact Hot mini-Neptunes with CHAIN
Water- and metal-rich atmospheres on compact hot mini-Neptunes lose mass more slowly than H/He cases at high enrichment levels due to enhanced cooling and higher mean molecular weight.
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ASTEP confirmation of a pair of long-period Jupiter-sized planets with extremely low densities transiting TOI-791
Two extremely low-density Jupiter-sized planets on long-period orbits around TOI-791 were confirmed via ground-based photometry and TTV-derived masses.
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Kepler Image-Subtracted Light Curves and Variable Star Catalog of NGC 6819
Generates and publicly releases 81,498 detrended Kepler light curves plus a catalog of 87 periodic variables (26 new) in the 2.5 Gyr cluster NGC 6819 using Gaia DR3 for membership.
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Stellar Obliquities of Young Systems, Atmospheres Undergoing Contraction and Escape (SOYSAUCE) II: a 135 Myr planet on an aligned orbit with transit timing variations
Validation of a 135 Myr, 3.6 R_E transiting planet with aligned obliquity and TTV evidence for a near-resonant companion.
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The mass of TOI-1883 b: A low density super-Neptune in the ridge regime transiting an early-M dwarf
Mass of 13.7 Earth masses and density 0.4 g cm^{-3} measured for TOI-1883 b, a super-Neptune in the ridge regime around an early-M dwarf, with implications for disk migration and photoevaporation.
- The GAPS Programme at TNG LXXIV. A reanalysis of the planetary systems TOI-1272 and TOI-1694 with HARPS-N and retraction of the planetary interpretation of TOI-1272 c