A population of planetary systems characterized by short-period, Earth-sized planets

TL;DR

This paper identifies a distinct population of exoplanetary systems characterized by isolated, Earth-sized planets with very short orbital periods, suggesting a different evolutionary pathway compared to typical Kepler systems.

Contribution

It reveals a new class of planetary systems with unique architecture, expanding understanding of planetary system diversity and evolution.

Findings

At least 17% of examined systems contain isolated, Earth-sized planets with ~1-day periods.

Such systems occur with a frequency comparable to hot Jupiters.

These systems likely represent a different evolutionary branch in planetary system development.

Abstract

We analyze data from the Quarter 1-17 Data Release 24 (Q1--Q17 DR24) planet candidate catalog from NASA's Kepler mission, specifically comparing systems with single transiting planets to systems with multiple transiting planets, and identify a distinct population of exoplanets with a necessarily distinct system architecture. Such an architecture likely indicates a different branch in their evolutionary past relative to the typical Kepler system. The key feature of these planetary systems is an isolated, Earth-sized planet with a roughly one-day orbital period. We estimate that at least 24 of the 144 systems we examined (>~17%) are members of this population. Accounting for detection efficiency, such planetary systems occur with a frequency similar to the hot Jupiters.