A sub-Saturn mass-radius desert for planets with equilibrium temperature <600 K

The sample of exoplanets from the NASA Exoplanet Archive with equilibrium temperature <= 600 K and with low uncertainty for both mass and radius measurements is found to have a desert in the mass-radius distribution consistent with predictions from the core-accretion scenario. This sub-Saturn mass-radius desert is almost completely barren of any planets with both a mass > 20 M-circle plus and a radius in the range 4.0-7.5 R(circle plus )for the sample of planets with Teq <= 600 K. In contrast, the sample of planets with Teq > 630 K includes a large fraction of planets with mass-radius values that fall into the Teq <= 600 K sub-Saturn mass-radius desert. The difference between the two populations may result from differences in migration history in the core-accretion scenario.

Automated summary

The study found that the sample of exoplanets with equilibrium temperature <= 600 K and low uncertainty in mass and radius measurements has a sub-Saturn mass-radius desert consistent with predictions from the core-accretion scenario. This desert is devoid of planets with mass > 20 M-circle plus and a radius in the range of 4.0-7.5 R(circle plus). However, the sample of planets with a higher equilibrium temperature (>630 K) includes a significant number of planets that fall into the sub-Saturn mass-radius desert found in the lower temperature range. The difference between the two populations may be due to differences in migration history in the core-accretion scenario.