A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models

Guòmundur Stefánsson; Suvrath Mahadevan; Yamila Miguel; Paul Robertson; Megan Delamer; Shubham Kanodia; Caleb I. Cañas; Joshua N. Winn; Joe P. Ninan; Ryan C. Terrien; Rae Holcomb; Eric B. Ford; Brianna Zawadzki; Brendan P. Bowler; Chad F. Bender; William D. Cochran; Scott Diddams; Michael Endl; Connor Fredrick; Samuel Halverson; Fred Hearty; Gary J. Hill; Andrea S.J. Lin; Andrew J. Metcalf; Andrew Monson; Lawrence Ramsey; Arpita Roy; Christian Schwab; Jason T. Wright; Gregory Zeimann

doi:10.1126/science.abo0233

A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models

Guòmundur Stefánsson, Suvrath Mahadevan, Yamila Miguel, Paul Robertson, Megan Delamer, Shubham Kanodia, Caleb I. Cañas, Joshua N. Winn, Joe P. Ninan, Ryan C. Terrien, Rae Holcomb, Eric B. Ford, Brianna Zawadzki, Brendan P. Bowler, Chad F. Bender, William D. Cochran, Scott Diddams, Michael Endl, Connor Fredrick, Samuel HalversonFred Hearty, Gary J. Hill, Andrea S.J. Lin, Andrew J. Metcalf, Andrew Monson, Lawrence Ramsey, Arpita Roy, Christian Schwab, Jason T. Wright, Gregory Zeimann

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Abstract

Theories of planet formation predict that low-mass stars should rarely host exoplanets with masses exceeding that of Neptune. We used radial velocity observations to detect a Neptune-mass exoplanet orbiting LHS 3154, a star that is nine times less massive than the Sun. The exoplanet's orbital period is 3.7 days, and its minimum mass is 13.2 Earth masses. We used simulations to show that the high planet-to-star mass ratio (>3.5 × 10^-4) is not an expected outcome of either the core accretion or gravitational instability theories of planet formation. In the core-accretion simulations, we show that close-in Neptune-mass planets are only formed if the dust mass of the protoplanetary disk is an order of magnitude greater than typically observed around very low-mass stars.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1031-1035
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	382
Issue number	6674
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo0233
State	Published - Dec 1 2023

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Stefánsson, G., Mahadevan, S., Miguel, Y., Robertson, P., Delamer, M., Kanodia, S., Cañas, C. I., Winn, J. N., Ninan, J. P., Terrien, R. C., Holcomb, R., Ford, E. B., Zawadzki, B., Bowler, B. P., Bender, C. F., Cochran, W. D., Diddams, S., Endl, M., Fredrick, C., ... Zeimann, G. (2023). A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models. Science, 382(6674), 1031-1035. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo0233

@article{7d223fd5cd3f44cebad559e7b5425bce,

title = "A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models",

abstract = "Theories of planet formation predict that low-mass stars should rarely host exoplanets with masses exceeding that of Neptune. We used radial velocity observations to detect a Neptune-mass exoplanet orbiting LHS 3154, a star that is nine times less massive than the Sun. The exoplanet's orbital period is 3.7 days, and its minimum mass is 13.2 Earth masses. We used simulations to show that the high planet-to-star mass ratio (>3.5 × 10-4) is not an expected outcome of either the core accretion or gravitational instability theories of planet formation. In the core-accretion simulations, we show that close-in Neptune-mass planets are only formed if the dust mass of the protoplanetary disk is an order of magnitude greater than typically observed around very low-mass stars.",

author = "Gu{\`o}mundur Stef{\'a}nsson and Suvrath Mahadevan and Yamila Miguel and Paul Robertson and Megan Delamer and Shubham Kanodia and Ca{\~n}as, {Caleb I.} and Winn, {Joshua N.} and Ninan, {Joe P.} and Terrien, {Ryan C.} and Rae Holcomb and Ford, {Eric B.} and Brianna Zawadzki and Bowler, {Brendan P.} and Bender, {Chad F.} and Cochran, {William D.} and Scott Diddams and Michael Endl and Connor Fredrick and Samuel Halverson and Fred Hearty and Hill, {Gary J.} and Lin, {Andrea S.J.} and Metcalf, {Andrew J.} and Andrew Monson and Lawrence Ramsey and Arpita Roy and Christian Schwab and Wright, {Jason T.} and Gregory Zeimann",

year = "2023",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1126/science.abo0233",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "382",

pages = "1031--1035",

journal = "Science",

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Stefánsson, G, Mahadevan, S, Miguel, Y, Robertson, P, Delamer, M, Kanodia, S, Cañas, CI, Winn, JN, Ninan, JP, Terrien, RC, Holcomb, R, Ford, EB, Zawadzki, B, Bowler, BP, Bender, CF, Cochran, WD, Diddams, S, Endl, M, Fredrick, C, Halverson, S, Hearty, F, Hill, GJ, Lin, ASJ, Metcalf, AJ, Monson, A, Ramsey, L, Roy, A, Schwab, C, Wright, JT & Zeimann, G 2023, 'A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models', Science, vol. 382, no. 6674, pp. 1031-1035. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo0233

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models

AU - Stefánsson, Guòmundur

AU - Mahadevan, Suvrath

AU - Miguel, Yamila

AU - Robertson, Paul

AU - Delamer, Megan

AU - Kanodia, Shubham

AU - Cañas, Caleb I.

AU - Winn, Joshua N.

AU - Ninan, Joe P.

AU - Terrien, Ryan C.

AU - Holcomb, Rae

AU - Ford, Eric B.

AU - Zawadzki, Brianna

AU - Bowler, Brendan P.

AU - Bender, Chad F.

AU - Cochran, William D.

AU - Diddams, Scott

AU - Endl, Michael

AU - Fredrick, Connor

AU - Halverson, Samuel

AU - Hearty, Fred

AU - Hill, Gary J.

AU - Lin, Andrea S.J.

AU - Metcalf, Andrew J.

AU - Monson, Andrew

AU - Ramsey, Lawrence

AU - Roy, Arpita

AU - Schwab, Christian

AU - Wright, Jason T.

AU - Zeimann, Gregory

PY - 2023/12/1

Y1 - 2023/12/1

N2 - Theories of planet formation predict that low-mass stars should rarely host exoplanets with masses exceeding that of Neptune. We used radial velocity observations to detect a Neptune-mass exoplanet orbiting LHS 3154, a star that is nine times less massive than the Sun. The exoplanet's orbital period is 3.7 days, and its minimum mass is 13.2 Earth masses. We used simulations to show that the high planet-to-star mass ratio (>3.5 × 10-4) is not an expected outcome of either the core accretion or gravitational instability theories of planet formation. In the core-accretion simulations, we show that close-in Neptune-mass planets are only formed if the dust mass of the protoplanetary disk is an order of magnitude greater than typically observed around very low-mass stars.

AB - Theories of planet formation predict that low-mass stars should rarely host exoplanets with masses exceeding that of Neptune. We used radial velocity observations to detect a Neptune-mass exoplanet orbiting LHS 3154, a star that is nine times less massive than the Sun. The exoplanet's orbital period is 3.7 days, and its minimum mass is 13.2 Earth masses. We used simulations to show that the high planet-to-star mass ratio (>3.5 × 10-4) is not an expected outcome of either the core accretion or gravitational instability theories of planet formation. In the core-accretion simulations, we show that close-in Neptune-mass planets are only formed if the dust mass of the protoplanetary disk is an order of magnitude greater than typically observed around very low-mass stars.

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U2 - 10.1126/science.abo0233

DO - 10.1126/science.abo0233

M3 - Article

C2 - 38033084

AN - SCOPUS:85178517642

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 382

SP - 1031

EP - 1035

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6674

ER -

A Neptune-mass exoplanet in close orbit around a very low-mass star challenges formation models

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