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Special Issue Review

Observed Properties of Extrasolar Planets

Andrew W. Howard
Science • 3 May 2013 • Vol 340, Issue 6132 • pp. 572-576 • DOI: 10.1126/science.1233545
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Abstract

Observational surveys for extrasolar planets probe the diverse outcomes of planet formation and evolution. These surveys measure the frequency of planets with different masses, sizes, orbital characteristics, and host star properties. Small planets between the sizes of Earth and Neptune substantially outnumber Jupiter-sized planets. The survey measurements support the core accretion model, in which planets form by the accumulation of solids and then gas in protoplanetary disks. The diversity of exoplanetary characteristics demonstrates that most of the gross features of the solar system are one outcome in a continuum of possibilities. The most common class of planetary system detectable today consists of one or more planets approximately one to three times Earth’s size orbiting within a fraction of the Earth-Sun distance.
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Science
Volume 340 | Issue 6132
3 May 2013

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Copyright © 2013, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Published in print: 3 May 2013

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Acknowledgments

I thank K. Teramura for assistance preparing the graphics and G. Marcy, D. Fischer, J. Wright, T. Currie, E. Petigura, H. Isaacson, R. Dawson, I. Crossfield, S. Kane, J. Steffen, J. Maurer, and S. Howard for comments on this manuscript. I also thank three anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism. I acknowledge partial funding from NASA grant NNX12AJ23G.

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Andrew W. Howard
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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