A group of scientists headed by Francois Fressinet (Francois Fressin) of the Harvard-Smithsonian center for astrophysics (USA)presented a January 7 meeting of the American astronomical society in long beach, (California, USA) work, analyzing the accumulated statistics exoplanets detected by means of a telescope "Kepler".

But just ten years ago gas giants were overwhelmingly among the known exoplanets... (Illustrations F. Fressin, C. Pulliam & D. Aguilar / CfA.)

Previously, astronomers have selected only those planets, a reality that is not in doubt. As it turned out, this applies to 90% of the candidates. And such "reliable" planets pretty much half stars, according to the study, have a planet the size of Earth or larger on distance less than the distance from mercury to the Sun. If to it to attach larger planet, which are easier to detect further away from the light, it turns out that 70% of the investigated stars have planets.

With stars like our Sun (yellow dwarfs spectral class G) the situation is even better: it seems that almost all of them have planets.

Among other things, astronomical census showed that 17% of surveyed stars have planets in diameter 0,8-1,25 earth traded very close to the stars (circulation period of not more than 85 days). Almost a quarter of the stars have "supersample" size 1.25-2 earth, addressed not more than 150 days (less Venusian year). The same number of stars, according to Mr. Fressinet, have "mini-Neptune" (2-4 diameter of the Earth) with a period of not exceeding 250 days.

The share of larger planets postulated as a much smaller: only 3% of the stars is "large Neptune", 4 to 6 times larger than the Earth, and only 5% was found gas giants, whose diameter in 6-22 times bigger than earth (say, our Jupiter 11 times larger). Due to the large mass of the planet to be found in more distant orbits with circulation period of around a Central star to 400 days.

The overall picture of the population of our Galaxy is this: even with all imaginable amended planets not tens, but hundreds of billions. However, a similar thesis has already been diglis, and talk about the revolutionary conclusions this report is not necessary. But the new statistical distribution of the planets the size of great interest.

An important conclusion is made about the connection sizes of the planets with one or another type of the parent star. All the planets except gas giants like Saturn or Jupiter, the type of the Central body of statistically irrelevant. Even a planet the size of Neptune meet around red dwarf stars and class of the Sun with the same frequency. The same is true for all exoplanets smaller.

This thesis, it is easy to notice, strongly contradicts previous studies on the same topic. As noted by astronomers that the planet earth sizes strongly "promiscuous", which means their wide prevalence around the vast majority of stars in the milky Way.

A study accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal.

Based on the materials of the Harvard-Smithsonian center for astrophysics.