Planetary mass–radius relations across the galaxy

¹ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
e-mail: arnaud.michel@space.unibe.ch
² Quest University Canada, 3200 University Boulevard, Squamish, V8B 0N8, BC, Canada

Received: 14 October 2019
Accepted: 25 May 2020

Abstract

Context. Planet formation theory suggests that planet bulk compositions are likely to reflect the chemical abundance ratios of their host star’s photosphere. Variations in the abundance of particular chemical species in stellar photospheres between different galactic stellar populations demonstrate that there are differences among the expected solid planet bulk compositions.

Aims. We aim to present planetary mass-radius relations of solid planets for kinematically differentiated stellar populations, namely, the thin disc, thick disc, and halo.

Methods. Using two separate internal structure models, we generated synthetic planets using bulk composition inputs derived from stellar abundances. We explored two scenarios, specifically iron-silicate planets at 0.1 AU and silicate-iron-water planets at 4 AU.

Results. We show that there is a persistent statistical difference in the expected mass-radius relations of solid planets among the different galactic stellar populations. At 0.1 AU for silicate-iron planets, there is a 1.51–2.04% mean planetary radius difference between the thick and thin disc stellar populations, whilst for silicate-iron-water planets past the ice line at 4 AU, we calculate a 2.93–3.26% difference depending on the models. Between the halo and thick disc, we retrieve at 0.1 AU a 0.53–0.69% mean planetary radius difference, and at 4 AU we find a 1.24–1.49% difference depending on the model.

Conclusions. Future telescopes (such as PLATO) will be able to precisely characterize solid exoplanets and demonstrate the possible existence of planetary mass-radius relationship variability between galactic stellar populations.