Planets Close-in and Far-out
Abstract: The data-rich Kepler mission provided an unprecedented
view of the demographics of planetary systems. The bulk compositions of planets
inform us the time and the location of their birth. Close-in super-Earths are
massive enough to trigger runaway gas accretion, yet they accreted atmospheres
that weigh only a few percent of the total mass, keeping their sizes below that
of the Neptune. This puzzle is solved if super-Earths formed late, in the inner
cavities of transitional disks. Over a wide range of nebular depletion
histories, super-Earths can robustly build their ~1% by mass envelopes.
Super-puffs present the inverse problem of being too voluminous for their small
masses. I will show that super-puffs most easily acquire their thick
atmospheres as dust-free, rapidly cooling worlds outside 1 AU, and then migrate
in just after super-Earths appear. I will conclude by discussing pathways
toward understanding the diversity of exoplanets in preparation for the
upcoming and planned space missions and ground-based instruments.