Mass, Density, and Formation Constraints in the Compact, Sub-Earth Kepler-444 System including Two Mars-Mass Planets

Abstract

Kepler-444 is a five planet system around a host-star approximately 11 billion years old. The five transiting planets all have sub-Earth radii and are in a compact configuration with orbital periods between 3 and 10 days. Here we present a transit-timing analysis of the system using the full Kepler data set in order to determine the masses of the planets. Two planets, Kepler-444 d ($M_{\mathrm{d}}=0.036_{-0.020}^{+0.065}{M}_{\oplus }$) and Kepler-444 e ($M_{\mathrm{e}}=0.034_{-0.019}^{+0.059}{M}_{\oplus }$), have confidently detected masses due to their proximity to resonance which creates transit timing variations. The mass ratio of these planets combined with the magnitude of possible star-planet tidal effects suggests that smooth disk migration over a significant distance is unlikely to have brought the system to its currently observed orbital architecture without significant post-formation perturbations.

Accepted for publication in ApJL

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