Thread: Interesting extrasolar planet discoveries
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Old 20-January-2009, 01:34 AM
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Originally Posted by timb View Post
After a lean period while astronomers waxed fat, another record: HAT-P-11b: A Super-Neptune Planet Transiting a Bright K Star in the Kepler Field describes the smallest radius transiting extrasolar planet found so far, radius 4.73±0.16 R⊕. Mp = 25.8±2.9 M⊕, P = 4.9 days, e = 0.198±0.046. This planet would be very hot.
Why is this classified as the smallest radius extrasolar planet?

We've discovered several 1.5-10 Earth mass planets around main sequence stars, I'd assume those terrestrials would have a far smaller radius than a Neptune class planet.

Also there were terrestrials that weere even smaller than Earth mass discovered orbiting pulsars, those must have a far smaller radius than this super-Neptune.
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