THE ROCHE LIMIT FOR CLOSE-ORBITING PLANETS: MINIMUM DENSITY, COMPOSITION CONSTRAINTS, AND APPLICATION TO THE 4.2 hr PLANET KOI 1843.03

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 773; no. 1; pp. L15 - 5
• Main Authors: Rappaport, Saul, Sanchis-Ojeda, Roberto, Rogers, Leslie A., Levine, Alan, Winn, Joshua N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 10.08.2013
• Subjects: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; DENSITY; IRON; Orbitals; ORBITS; PLANETS; Roche limit; ROCKS; SILICATES; SIMULATION; Systematic errors

The requirement that a planet must orbit outside of its Roche limit gives a lower limit on the planet's mean density. The minimum density depends almost entirely on the orbital period and is immune to systematic errors in the stellar properties. We consider the implications of this density cons...