HomeAstronomyMissing planets twice Earth's size may point to migrating worlds

Missing planets twice Earth’s size may point to migrating worlds

Supercomputer simulations have provided an explanation as to why so many exoplanets are either super-Earths or mini-Neptunes, with few planets in between.

Exoplanets can come in a variety of sizes and masses. If you were to plot on a graph how many planets of each size astronomers have discovered, you’d find two peaks: one at 1.4 times Earth‘s radius, and another at 2.4 times Earth’s radius. Between them is a dip or valley, at around 1.8 times the radius of Earth, signifying the relative scarcity of planets of that size.

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