Correlation metallicity / eclipse depth Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Dodson-Robinson S.E.
  2. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

Previous studies of the interior structure of transiting exoplanets have shown that the heavy-element content of gas giants increases with host star metallicity. Since metal-poor planets are less dense and have larger radii than metal-rich planets of the same mass, one might expect that metal-poor stars host a higher proportion of gas giants with large radii than metal-rich stars. Here I present evidence for a negative correlation at the 2.3{sigma} level between eclipse depth and stellar metallicity in the Kepler gas giant candidates. Based on Kendall's {tau} statistics, the probability that eclipse depth depends on star metallicity is 0.981. The correlation is consistent with planets orbiting low-metallicity stars being, on average, larger in comparison with their host stars than planets orbiting metal-rich stars. Furthermore, since metal-rich stars have smaller radii than metal-poor stars of the same mass and age, a uniform population of planets should show a rise in median eclipse depth with [M/H]. The fact that I find the opposite trend indicates that substantial changes in the gas giant interior structure must accompany increasing [M/H]. I investigate whether the known scarcity of giant planets orbiting low-mass stars could masquerade as an eclipse depth-metallicity correlation, given the degeneracy between metallicity and temperature for cool stars in the Kepler Input Catalog. While the eclipse depth-metallicity correlation is not yet on firm statistical footing and will require spectroscopic [Fe/H] measurements for validation, it is an intriguing window into how the interior structure of planets and even the planet formation mechanism may be changing with Galactic chemical evolution.

Keywords
  1. chemical-abundances
  2. multiple-stars
  3. solar-system-planets
  4. stellar-radii
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2012ApJ...752...72D
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/752/72
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/752/72
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.17520072

Access

Web browser access HTML
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/752/72
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/752/72
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/752/72
IVOA Table Access TAP
http://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table1?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table1?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table2?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/752/72/table2?

History

2014-03-03T09:24:46Z
Resource record created
2014-03-03T09:24:46Z
Created
2018-01-02T13:43:14Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr