The Nature and Origins of Sub‐Neptune Size Planets

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Planets Vol. 126; no. 1; pp. e2020JE006639 - n/a
• Main Authors: Bean, Jacob L., Raymond, Sean N., Owen, James E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2021
• ISSN: 2169-9097; 2169-9100
• DOI: 10.1029/2020JE006639

Planets intermediate in size between the Earth and Neptune, and orbiting closer to their host stars than Mercury does the Sun, are the most common type of planet revealed by exoplanet surveys over the last quarter century. Results from NASA's Kepler mission have revealed a bimodality in the radius distribution of these objects, with a relative underabundance of planets between 1.5 and 2.0 R⊕. This bimodality suggests that sub‐Neptunes are mostly rocky planets that were born with primary atmospheres a few percent by mass accreted from the protoplanetary nebula. Planets above the radius gap were able to retain their atmospheres (“gas‐rich super‐Earths”), while planets below the radius gap lost their atmospheres and are stripped cores (“true super‐Earths”). The mechanism that drives atmospheric loss for these planets remains an outstanding question, with photoevaporation and core‐powered mass loss being the prime candidates. As with the mass‐loss mechanism, there are two contenders for the origins of the solids in sub‐Neptune planets: the migration model involves the growth and migration of embryos from beyond the ice line, while the drift model involves inward‐drifting pebbles that coagulate to form planets close‐in. Atmospheric studies have the potential to break degeneracies in interior structure models and place additional constraints on the origins of these planets. However, most atmospheric characterization efforts have been confounded by aerosols. Observations with upcoming facilities are expected to finally reveal the atmospheric compositions of these worlds, which are arguably the first fundamentally new type of planetary object identified from the study of exoplanets. Plain Language Summary Planets with radii between that of the Earth and Neptune have been found around other stars in large numbers. It wasn't immediately obvious after their initial discovery what the basic characteristics of these planets are and how they formed because there aren't exact analogs of them in the solar system. Scientists have recently concluded that they are most likely Earth‐like in composition based on measurements of how common objects of different sizes and densities in this regime are. However, there are two classes of these objects. The class of slightly larger objects harbors moderately thick atmospheres composed primarily of hydrogen gas. The other class of smaller objects are thought to have been born with similar atmospheres, but lost them during their subsequent evolution. Both classes of these planets must have formed very soon after the formation of their host stars in order to have started with hydrogen‐dominated atmospheres, but the exact sequence of events leading to the birth of these objects remains uncertain. Efforts to directly study the atmospheres of these objects have been mostly stymied by heavy cloud layers. Observations with new telescopes are expected to yield detailed information on the atmospheres to further our understanding of these objects. Key Points Sub‐Neptune planets are rocky bodies that bifurcate into two classes based on their retention or loss of hydrogen‐dominated atmospheres Sub‐Neptune planets formed within gas‐dominated disks from solids that experienced large‐scale inward movement Atmospheric characterization of sub‐Neptune planets has been frustrated by the presence of aerosols