Classification of exoplanets according to density

Abstract

Considering probability distribution as a function of the average density $\bar{\rho }$ computed for 424 extrasolar planets we identify three log-normal Gaussian population components. The two most populous components at $\bar{\rho }\simeq 0.7$ g/cc and $\bar{\rho }\simeq 7$ g/cc are the ice/gas giants and iron/rock super-Earths, respectively. A third component at $\bar{\rho }\simeq 30$ g/cc is consistent with brown dwarfs, i.e., electron degeneracy supported objects. We note presence of several extreme density planetary objects.

Four pages, two figures. Supplement, program and data files included

Cited by in corpus (2)

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