{"id":3829,"date":"2014-01-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpdev.hmc.edu\/physics\/2014\/01\/21\/glimpsing-the-compositions-of-sub-neptune-size-exoplanets\/"},"modified":"2014-01-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:00:00","slug":"glimpsing-the-compositions-of-sub-neptune-size-exoplanets","status":"publish","type":"physics_colloquium","link":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/research\/colloquium\/glimpsing-the-compositions-of-sub-neptune-size-exoplanets\/","title":{"rendered":"Glimpsing the Compositions of Sub-Neptune-Size Exoplanets"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"page-featured-image\" class=\"wp-block-image is-style-alignleft\" data-pic=\"pic-548.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2023\/01\/pic-548.jpg\" alt=\"Promotional image for talk: Elements of a successful scientific talk\" data-pic=\"pic-548.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Speaker(s):<\/strong> Leslie Rodgers<\/p>\n<p>Sub-Neptune and super-Earth sized planets are a new planet category. They account for 80% of the planet candidates discovered by Kepler, and 0% of the planets in the Solar System. What is the nature of these sub-Neptune-size planets, how did they form, and why are they so numerous? I will review some highlights from the complement of exotic sub-Neptune-size planets discovered to date and present an updated planet mass-radius diagram, including new Keck radial velocity measured masses (or mass upper limits) for 42 small Kepler transiting planet candidates. From the observed planet mass-radius distribution, I\u2019ll theorize about why parts of the distribution are unpopulated and about whether this could be a signature of planet formation and evolution. I\u2019ll focus on the intriguing transition between rocky exoplanets (comprised of iron and silicates) and planets with voluminous layers of volatiles (H\/He and astrophysical ices), and explore how the current census of planets constrains this transition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-3829","physics_colloquium","type-physics_colloquium","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/physics_colloquium\/3829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/physics_colloquium"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/physics_colloquium"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/physics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}