A sub-Saturn mass-radius desert for planets with equilibrium temperature <600 K

• Published in: Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) Vol. 407; p. 115798
• Main Author: Russell, David G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Extra-solar planets; Jovian planets; Planetary formation; Jovian planets; Extra-solar planets; Planetary formation
• ISSN: 0019-1035; 1090-2643
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115798

The sample of exoplanets from the NASA Exoplanet Archive with equilibrium temperature ≤ 600 K and with low uncertainty for both mass and radius measurements is found to have a desert in the mass-radius distribution consistent with predictions from the core-accretion scenario. This sub-Saturn mass-radius desert is almost completely barren of any planets with both a mass > 20 M⊕ and a radius in the range 4.0–7.5 R⊕ for the sample of planets with Teq ≤ 600 K. In contrast, the sample of planets with Teq > 630 K includes a large fraction of planets with mass-radius values that fall into the Teq ≤ 600 K sub-Saturn mass-radius desert. The difference between the two populations may result from differences in migration history in the core-accretion scenario. •Exoplanets with low equilibrium temperatures form a sub-Saturn mass-radius desert.•The sub-Saturn mass-radius desert is occupied by planets with high temperatures.•Planet formation mechanisms may explain the sub-Saturn mass-radius desert.