Extrasolar Planets Kepler-11 System

The Kepler-11 system of 6 confirmed exoplanets is known for being unusual in that a wide variety of exoplanet types co-exist in a closely-packed configuration. The system is hard to expain in the context of current planet formation and planet migration theories. (For background, refer to the article core accretion theory of planet formation, and the additional articles that are linked from there).

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The star Kepler-11 has a mass and size similar to our Sun. The 6 planets range in mass from about 2.3 times the mass of the Earth to about 95% of the mass of the earth. The radii of the 6 planets range from 1.9 times the radius of the Earth to about 4.4 times the radius of the Earth (which is about the size of Neptune). The maximum star-planet distances (i.e., the maximum semimajor axis of the orbits) range from just 9% of the Earth-Sun distance to just over 46% of the Earth-Sun distance. It is quite incredible that 6 planets (and very different ones at that), are squeezed into such a small space.

The announcement paper for the 6 planets in the Kepler-11 system is Lissauer et al. (2011).

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File under: Kepler-10b; Rocky terrestrial planet in the Kepler candidates sample.