All Six Planets Known to Orbit Kepler-11 Have Low Densities

Abstract

The Kepler-11 planetary system contains six transiting planets ranging in size from 1.8 to 4.2 times the radius of Earth. Five of these planets orbit in a tightly-packed configuration with periods between 10 and 47 days. We perform a dynamical analysis of the system based upon transit timing variations observed in more than three years of \ik photometric data. Stellar parameters are derived using a combination of spectral classification and constraints on the star's density derived from transit profiles together with planetary eccentricity vectors provided by our dynamical study. Combining masses of the planets relative to the star from our dynamical study and radii of the planets relative to the star from transit depths together with deduced stellar properties yields measurements of the radii of all six planets, masses of the five inner planets, and an upper bound to the mass of the outermost planet, whose orbital period is 118 days. We find mass-radius combinations for all six planets that imply that substantial fractions of their volumes are occupied by constituents that are less dense than rock. The Kepler-11 system contains the lowest mass exoplanets for which both mass and radius have been measured.

39 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (6)

• DHP Framework: Digital Health Passports Using Blockchain -- Use case on international tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Atmospheric Escape from Hot Jupiters
• KEPLER's First Rocky Planet: Kepler-10b
• The Mass of KOI-94d and a Relation for Planet Radius, Mass, and Incident Flux
• Ab initio Equation of State data for hydrogen, helium, and water and the internal structure of Jupiter
• Alignment of the stellar spin with the orbits of a three-planet system

Cited by in corpus (119)

• The Occurrence and Architecture of Exoplanetary Systems
• Understanding the Mass-Radius Relation for Sub-Neptunes: Radius as a Proxy for Composition
• The Mass-Radius Relation for 65 Exoplanets Smaller than 4 Earth Radii
• The Role of Core Mass in Controlling Evaporation: the Kepler Radius Distribution and the Kepler-36 Density Dichotomy
• Core-powered mass loss and the radius distribution of small exoplanets
• Revised Stellar Properties of Kepler Targets for the Quarter 1-16 Transit Detection Run
• Three regimes of extrasolar planets inferred from host star metallicities
• Revised Stellar Properties of Kepler Targets for the Q1-17 (DR25) Transit Detection Run
• Super-Earth Atmospheres: Self-Consistent Gas Accretion and Retention
• The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)
• Compositional imprints in density-distance-time: a rocky composition for close-in low-mass exoplanets from the location of the valley of evaporation
• The Exoplanet Mass-Ratio Function from the MOA-II Survey: Discovery of a Break and Likely Peak at a Neptune Mass
• Make Super-Earths, Not Jupiters: Accreting Nebular Gas onto Solid Cores at 0.1 AU and Beyond
• Probabilistic Mass-Radius Relationship for Sub-Neptune-Sized Planets
• Exploring Exoplanet Populations with NASA's Kepler Mission
• A Study of the Shortest-Period Planets Found With Kepler
• Densities and Eccentricities of 139 Kepler Planets from Transit Time Variations
• Revisited Mass-Radius relations for exoplanets below 120 Earth masses
• Validation of Kepler's Multiple Planet Candidates. II: Refined Statistical Framework and Descriptions of Systems of Special Interest
• Inside-Out Planet Formation
• The Mass of Kepler-93b and The Composition of Terrestrial Planets
• Evolutionary Analysis of Gaseous Sub-Neptune-Mass Planets with MESA
• Kepler Planet Masses and Eccentricities from TTV Analysis
• An Earth-sized planet with an Earth-like density
• Bulk Composition of GJ 1214b and other sub-Neptune exoplanets
• Transit Timing Observations from Kepler. IX. Catalog of the Full Long-Cadence Data Set
• Very Low-Density Planets around Kepler-51 Revealed with Transit Timing Variations and an Anomaly Similar to a Planet-Planet Eclipse Event
• A Rocky Composition for an Earth-sized Exoplanet
• The Kepler-10 planetary system revisited by HARPS-N: A hot rocky world and a solid Neptune-mass planet
• Transits and Occultations of an Earth-Sized Planet in an 8.5-Hour Orbit
• Secure TTV Mass Measurements: Ten Kepler Exoplanets between 3 and 8 Earth Masses with Diverse Densities and Incident Fluxes
• The mass of the Mars-sized exoplanet Kepler-138 b from transit timing
• Planetary evolution with atmospheric photoevaporation I. Analytical derivation and numerical study of the evaporation valley and transition from super-Earths to sub-Neptunes
• A giant impact as the likely origin of different twins in the Kepler-107 exoplanet system
• Detectable close-in planets around white dwarfs through late unpacking
• Advances in exoplanet science from Kepler
• KOI-152's Low Density Planets
• Grain opacity and the bulk composition of extrasolar planets. II. An analytical model for the grain opacity in protoplanetary atmospheres
• Measurement of planet masses with transit timing variations due to synodic "chopping" effects
• The stability of tightly-packed, evenly-spaced systems of Earth-mass planets orbiting a Sun-like star
• Occurrence and core-envelope structure of 1--4x Earth-size planets around Sun-like stars
• A Metallicity Recipe for Rocky Planets
• Giant Impact: An Efficient Mechanism for the Devolatilization of Super-Earths
• Four Sub-Saturns with Dissimilar Densities: Windows into Planetary Cores and Envelopes
• Discovery of a Third Transiting Planet in the Kepler-47 Circumbinary System
• Planet Hunters VII. Discovery of a New Low-Mass, Low-Density Planet (PH3 c) Orbiting Kepler-289 with Mass Measurements of Two Additional Planets (PH3 b and d)
• Transit timing to first order in eccentricity
• Accretion and Evolution of ~2.5 Earth-mass Planets with Voluminous H/He Envelopes
• Radial velocity follow-up of GJ1132 with HARPS. A precise mass for planet 'b' and the discovery of a second planet
• Faint disks around classical T Tauri stars: small but dense enough to form planets?
• Stellar wind interaction and pick-up ion escape of the Kepler-11 "super-Earths"
• Spin-orbit Misalignment as a Driver of the Kepler Dichotomy
• On the detection of Exomoons: A search in Kepler data for the orbital sampling effect and the scatter peak
• The Compositional Diversity of Low-Mass Exoplanets
• Terrestrial Planet Formation in the Presence of Migrating Super-earths
• TRADES: A new software to derive orbital parameters from observed transit times and radial velocities. Revisiting Kepler-11 and Kepler-9
• The Densities of Planets in Multiple Stellar Systems
• Numerical and Analytical Modelling of Transit Time Variations
• Revised Masses and Densities of the Planets around Kepler-10
• New Formation Models for the Kepler-36 System
• Evolutionary Models of Super-Earths and Mini-Neptunes Incorporating Cooling and Mass Loss
• An Overabundance of Low-density Neptune-like Planets
• Tidal Inflation Reconciles Low-Density Sub-Saturns with Core Accretion
• The Kepler Giant Planet Search. I: A Decade of Kepler Planet-host Radial Velocities from W. M. Keck Observatory
• Overcoming the Meter Barrier and The Formation of Systems with Tightly-packed Inner Planets (STIPs)
• Utilizing Small Telescopes Operated by Citizen Scientists for Transiting Exoplanet Follow-up
• Doppler Monitoring of five K2 Transiting Planetary Systems
• Stability of Satellites in Closely Packed Planetary Systems
• Water Planets in the Habitable Zone: Atmospheric Chemistry, Observable Features, and the case of Kepler-62e and -62f
• The Kepler-11 system: evolution of the stellar high-energy emission and {initial planetary} atmospheric mass fractions
• A framework for the architecture of exoplanetary systems. I. Four classes of planetary system architecture
• Stability of the Kepler-11 System and its Origin
• Challenges to Constraining Exoplanet Masses via Transmission Spectroscopy
• An upper boundary in the mass-metallicity plane of exo-Neptunes
• Understanding the assembly of Kepler's compact planetary systems
• Characterization of the K2-38 planetary system. Unraveling one of the densest planets known to date
• Formation of compact systems of super-Earths via dynamical instabilities and giant impacts
• Plausible Compositions of the Seven TRAPPIST-1 Planets Using Long-term Dynamical Simulations
• Analytical Model of Tidal Distortion and Dissipation for a Giant Planet with a Viscoelastic Core
• Dynamical Constraints on Mercury's Collisional Origin
• Doppler Monitoring of the WASP-47 Multiplanet System
• TOI-216: Resonant Constraints on Planet Migration
• Kepler-11 is a Solar Twin: Revising the Masses and Radii of Benchmark Planets Via Precise Stellar Characterization
• Beyond the exoplanet mass-radius relation
• Sculpting the sub-Saturn Occurrence Rate via Atmospheric Mass Loss
• K2-110 b - a massive mini-Neptune exoplanet
• Deep and wide gaps by super Earths in low-viscosity discs
• Formation of Terrestrial Planets
• Worlds Without Moons: Exomoon Constraints for Compact Planetary Systems
• Orbital Architectures of Kepler Multis From Dynamical Instabilities
• Orbital Stability and Precession Effects in the Kepler-89 System
• On the potentially dramatic history of the super-Earth rho 55 Cancri e
• Dynamical avenues for Mercury's origin I: The lone survivor of a primordial generation of short-period proto-planets
• Interferometric Evidence for Quantum Heated Particles in the Inner Region of Protoplanetary Disks around Herbig Stars
• Tidal Heating of Young Super-Earth Atmospheres
• The Criterion for Chaos in Three-Planet Systems
• Modal Decomposition of TTV - Inferring Planet Masses and Eccentricities
• The circulation of dust in protoplanetary discs and the initial conditions of planet formation
• Dynamical avenues for Mercury's origin II: in-situ formation in the inner terrestrial disk
• Solar System Moons as Analogs for Compact Exoplanetary Systems
• The origins of nearly coplanar, non-resonant systems of close-in super-Earths
• Stable lifetime of compact, evenly-spaced planetary systems with non-equal masses
• The GAPS Programme at TNG XL: A puffy and warm Neptune-sized planet and an outer Neptune-mass candidate orbiting the solar-type star TOI-1422
• Breaking mean-motion resonances during Type I planet migration
• Outcomes of Grazing Impacts Between Sub-Neptunes in Kepler Multis
• Dynamics and Collisional Evolution of Closely Packed Planetary Systems
• In Situ and Ex Situ Formation Models of Kepler 11 Planets
• The Dynamics of Tightly-packed Planetary Systems in the Presence of an Outer Planet: case studies using Kepler-11 and Kepler-90
• There might be giants: unseen Jupiter-mass planets as sculptors of tightly-packed planetary systems
• A Method to Identify the Boundary Between Rocky and Gaseous Exoplanets from Tidal Theory and Transit Durations
• Direct Imaging discovery of a second planet candidate around the possibly transiting planet host CVSO 30
• Transit Duration Variations in Multi-Planet Systems
• Outer Architecture of Kepler-11: Constraints from Coplanarity
• Phase Curves of the Kepler-11 Multi-Planet System
• exoMMR: a New Python Package to Confirm and Characterize Mean Motion Resonances
• Exploiting the transit timing capabilities of Ariel
• Constraining stellar rotation and planetary atmospheric evolution of a dozen systems hosting sub-Neptunes and super-Earths
• A numerical method for computing optimum radii of host stars and orbits of planets, with application to Kepler-11, Kepler-90, Kepler-215, HD 10180, HD 34445, and TRAPPIST-1
• Grain Growth in Escaping Atmospheres: Implications for the Radius Inflation of Super-Puffs