TESS Reveals Planet Occurrence Rates Around M Dwarfs

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of planet occurrence rates around mid-to-late M dwarfs using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The survey identified 77 new planet candidates, significantly expanding the known population of planets orbiting these small, cool stars. A key finding is the absence of the 'radius valley,' a bimodal distribution observed around FGK stars and early M dwarfs, where there's a distinct gap between super-Earths and sub-Neptunes. Instead, the planet radius distribution around mid-to-late M dwarfs is unimodal, peaking at approximately 1.25 Earth radii. The study also found that super-Earths are significantly more common than sub-Neptunes around these stars, supporting the hypothesis that the sub-Neptune population around M dwarfs is primarily composed of water-rich worlds. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of planet formation and evolution, suggesting that different mechanisms may be at play around lower-mass stars. The results also provide valuable input for future exoplanet surveys and atmospheric characterization efforts, as they help to prioritize targets and optimize observational strategies. The upper limit of 0.012 hot Jupiters per mid-to-late M dwarf within 10 days is also a valuable constraint for planet formation models.

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