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Evidence for a lost population of close-in exoplanets
Article first published online: 4 MAY 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14763.x
© 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 RAS
Issue
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume 396, Issue 2, pages 1012–1017, June 2009
Additional Information
How to Cite
Davis, T. A. and Wheatley, P. J. (2009), Evidence for a lost population of close-in exoplanets. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 396: 1012–1017. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.14763.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 10 JUN 2009
- Article first published online: 4 MAY 2009
- Accepted 2009 March 10. Received 2009 March 9; in original form 2008 December 22
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- planetary systems;
- X-rays: stars
ABSTRACT
We investigate the evaporation history of known transiting exoplanets in order to consider the origin of observed correlations between mass, surface gravity and orbital period. We show that the survival of the known planets at their current separations is consistent with a simple model of evaporation, but that many of the same planets would not have survived closer to their host stars. These putative closer-in systems represent a lost population that could account for the observed correlations. We conclude that the relation underlying the correlations noted by Mazeh et al. and Southworth et al. is most likely a linear cut-off in the M2/R3 versus a−2 plane, and we show that the distribution of exoplanets in this plane is in close agreement with the evaporation model.