Speaker
Description
During the past years there has been a major paradigm shift in exoplanet science, due to the realisation that small planets come in two distinct flavours, i.e., super-Earth and sub-Neptune planets, separated by a radius valley where planets are rare. I present the latest research from statistical studies of small transiting Kepler and TESS planets. In particular, I show how the location of the radius valley is observed to depend on stellar parameters including their age (Ho & Van Eylen 2023). I highlight the challenges in observing the valley for low mass M-type stars (e.g., Ho et al. 2024). I furthermore discuss the latest insights in studying the compositions of small rocky planets, including an exciting link between rocky planet compositions and stellar ages (Weeks, Van Eylen, et al., 2025, accepted), and I discuss how our solar system planets fit within this broader galactic context. Finally, I highlight how all of this progress has crucially relied on precise and homogeneous stellar characterisation, and show how PLATO can be expected to address several of the main open questions that remain.
