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File:Exoplanet Period-Mass Scatter.png

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Summary

Description
English: Scatter plot of mass, m, and semimajor axis, a, for exoplanet discoveries through 2010-10-03, indicating the discovery method using distinct colors:
   radial velocity (dark blue)
   transit (dark green)
   timing (dark purple)
   astrometry (dark yellow)
   direct imaging (dark red)
   microlensing (dark orange)
   pulsar timing (purple)
   Solar System planets for reference

Estimates (see "important note" below) of m and a are indicated with circles; or with small triangles along the m axis where no a value is provided in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, and none can be calculated (from given stellar mass and period).

Scales indicate (log10 of) mass, m, expressed as Jupiter masses (left) and Earth masses (right); and (log10 of) semimajor axis, a, expressed in AU (bottom), and the corresponding period, p for a planet orbiting a Sun-mass star, expressed in Earth years.

Reference lines are provided as a rough measure of the difficulty of detecting exoplanets using radial velocity and transits. Dashed lines trace the combinations of m and a values that produce the indicated radial velocity semi-amplitude K for a planet orbiting a solar-mass star (assuming m << M). Dotted lines trace the m (for Jupiter-density) and a values where the geometric probability of transit for a solar-radius star (assuming a circular orbit, so that e and ω can be ignored) is the indicated value (less than the indicated proportion of all planets to the right of a given line will have transiting orbits).

Base data is from the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, augmented with discovery methods from the Planetary Society's Catalog of Exoplanets and updates from the Kepler Mission's summary table of discoveries. Occasional missing data is determined from original papers cited by these sources.

  1. Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia (2010-09-30). Retrieved on 2010-10-03.
  2. Planetary Society: Catalog of Exoplanets (2010-01-07). Retrieved on 2010-10-03.
  3. Summary Table of Kepler Discoveries. NASA (2010-08-26). Retrieved on 2010-10-03.
Date 3 October 2010
Source Own work, based on a figure by E.A.L. and used with permission
Author Aldaron, a.k.a. Aldaron

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