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A remnant planetary core in the hot-Neptune desert

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Armstrong, David J., Lopez, The ́o A., Adibekyan, Vardan, Booth, Richard A., Bryant, Edward, Collins, Karen A., Deleuil, Magali, Emsenhuber, Alexandre, Huang, Chelsea X., King, George W. et al.
(2020) A remnant planetary core in the hot-Neptune desert. Nature, 583 . pp. 39-42. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2421-7

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2421-7

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Abstract

The interiors of giant planets remain poorly understood. Even for the planets in the Solar System, difficulties in observation lead to large uncertainties in the properties of planetary cores. Exoplanets that have undergone rare evolutionary processes provide a route to understanding planetary interiors. Planets found in and near the typically barren hot-Neptune ‘desert’1,2 (a region in mass–radius space that contains few planets) have proved to be particularly valuable in this regard. These planets include HD149026b3, which is thought to have an unusually massive core, and recent discoveries such as LTT9779b4 and NGTS-4b5, on which photoevaporation has removed a substantial part of their outer atmospheres. Here we report observations of the planet TOI-849b, which has a radius smaller than Neptune’s but an anomalously large mass of 39.1+2.7−2.6 Earth masses and a density of 5.2+0.7−0.8 grams per cubic centimetre, similar to Earth’s. Interior-structure models suggest that any gaseous envelope of pure hydrogen and helium consists of no more than 3.9+0.8−0.9 per cent of the total planetary mass. The planet could have been a gas giant before undergoing extreme mass loss via thermal self-disruption or giant planet collisions, or it could have avoided substantial gas accretion, perhaps through gap opening or late formation6. Although photoevaporation rates cannot account for the mass loss required to reduce a Jupiter-like gas giant, they can remove a small (a few Earth masses) hydrogen and helium envelope on timescales of several billion years, implying that any remaining atmosphere on TOI-849b is likely to be enriched by water or other volatiles from the planetary interior. We conclude that TOI-849b is the remnant core of a giant planet.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Planets, Extrasolar planets -- Research, Astrophysics
Journal or Publication Title: Nature
Publisher: Nature Publishing
ISSN: 0028-0836
Official Date: 2 July 2020
Dates:
DateEvent
2 July 2020Published
1 July 2020Available
20 March 2020Accepted
Date of first compliant deposit: 25 March 2020
Volume: 583
Page Range: pp. 39-42
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2421-7
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
UNSPECIFIEDUnited States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Science Mission Directoratehttp://viaf.org/viaf/122399912
ST/R00384X/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
ST/P003850/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
ST/R003726/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
ST/S000631/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
UNSPECIFIED[RS] Royal Societyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288
UNSPECIFIED[RS] Royal Societyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288
UNSPECIFIEDNASA Exoplanet Science Institutehttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100014227
17-XRP17 2-0024[NASA] National Aeronautics and Space Administrationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000104
UNSPECIFIEDDunlap FellowshipUNSPECIFIED
80NSSC19K0097[NASA] National Aeronautics and Space Administrationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000104
UNSPECIFIEDFundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento RegionalUNSPECIFIED
UID/FIS/04434/2019Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
PTDC/FIS-AST/32113/2017Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032113Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
PTDC/FIS-AST/28953/2017Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028953Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
IF/00028/2014/CP1215/CT0002Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
IF/00650/2015/CP1273/CT0001Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
IF/01312/2014/CP1215/CT0004Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
DL 57/2016/CP1364/CT0004Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
PD/BD/128119/2016Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiahttp://viaf.org/viaf/148753396
UNSPECIFIEDHeising-Simons Foundationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100014155
ST/P000312/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
ESP2017-87676-C5-1-RAgencia Estatal de InvestigaciónUNSPECIFIED
MDM-2017-0737Agencia Estatal de InvestigaciónUNSPECIFIED
1161218Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile)http://viaf.org/viaf/133259425
UNSPECIFIEDCentro de Astrofísica y Tecnologías AfinesUNSPECIFIED
21191829Programa Formación de Capital Humano AvanzadoUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDProgramme National de PlanétologieUNSPECIFIED
UNSPECIFIEDDorothy Hodgkin FellowshipUNSPECIFIED
BSSGI0_155816[SNSF] Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschunghttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001711
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