Today, with the large number of detected exoplanets and improved measurements, we can reach the next step of planetary characterization. Classifying different populations of planets is not only important for our understanding of the demographics of various planetary types in the galaxy, but also for our understanding of planet formation. We explore the nature of two regimes in the planetary mass-radius (M-R) relation. We suggest that the transition between the two regimes of "small" and "large" planets occurs at a mass of 124 ± 7 M ⊕ and a radius of 12.1 ± 0.5 R ⊕ . Furthermore, the M-R relation is R ∝ M 0.55±0.02 and R ∝ M 0.01±0.02 for small and large planets, respectively. We suggest that the location of the breakpoint is linked to the onset of electron degeneracy in hydrogen, and therefore to the planetary bulk composition. Specifically, it is the characteristic minimal mass of a planet that consists of mostly hydrogen and helium, and therefore its M-R relation is determined by the equation of state of these materials. We compare the M-R relation from observational data with the relation derived by population synthesis calculations and show that there is a good qualitative agreement between the two samples.

We report discovery of a bright, nearby ($G = 13.8;\, \, d = 480\, \rm pc$) Sun-like star orbiting a dark object. We identified the system as a black hole candidate via its astrometric orbital solution from the Gaia mission. Radial velocities validated and refined the Gaia solution, and spectroscopy ruled out significant light contributions from another star. Joint modeling of radial velocities and astrometry constrains the companion mass to M2 = 9.62 ± 0.18 M⊙. The spectroscopic orbit alone sets a minimum companion mass of M2 > 5 M⊙; if the companion were a 5 M⊙ star, it would be 500 times more luminous than the entire system. These constraints are insensitive to the mass of the luminous star, which appears as a slowly-rotating G dwarf ($T_{\rm eff}=5850\, \rm K$, log g = 4.5, M = 0.93 M⊙), with near-solar metallicity ($\rm [Fe/H] = -0.2$) and an unremarkable abundance pattern. We find no plausible astrophysical scenario that can explain the orbit and does not involve a black hole. The orbital period, Porb = 185.6 days, is longer than that of any known stellar-mass black hole binary. The system’s modest eccentricity (e = 0.45), high metallicity, and thin-disk Galactic orbit suggest that it was born in the Milky Way disk with at most a weak natal kick. How the system formed is uncertain. Common envelope evolution can only produce the system’s wide orbit under extreme and likely unphysical assumptions. Formation models involving triples or dynamical assembly in an open cluster may be more promising. This is the nearest known black hole by a factor of 3, and its discovery suggests the existence of a sizable population of dormant black holes in binaries. Future Gaia releases will likely facilitate the discovery of dozens more.

We report spectroscopic and photometric follow-up of a dormant black hole (BH) candidate from Gaia DR3. The system, which we call Gaia BH2, contains a ∼1 M⊙ red giant and a dark companion with mass $M_2 = 8.9\pm 0.3\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ that is very likely a BH. The orbital period, Porb = 1277 d, is much longer than that of any previously studied BH binary. Our radial velocity (RV) follow-up over a 7-month period spans >90 per cent of the orbit’s RV range and is in excellent agreement with the Gaia solution. UV imaging and high-resolution optical spectra rule out plausible luminous companions that could explain the orbit. The star is a bright (G = 12.3), slightly metal-poor ($\rm [Fe/H]=-0.22$) low-luminosity giant ($T_{\rm eff}=4600\, \rm K$; $R = 7.8\, R_{\odot }$; $\log \left[g/\left({\rm cm\, s^{-2}}\right)\right] = 2.6$). The binary’s orbit is moderately eccentric (e = 0.52). The giant is enhanced in α-elements, with $\rm [\alpha /Fe] = +0.26$, but the system’s Galactocentric orbit is typical of the thin disc. We obtained X-ray and radio non-detections of the source near periastron, which support BH accretion models in which the net accretion rate at the horizon is much lower than the Bondi–Hoyle–Lyttleton rate. At a distance of 1.16 kpc, Gaia BH2 is the second-nearest known BH, after Gaia BH1. Its orbit – like that of Gaia BH1 – seems too wide to have formed through common envelope evolution. Gaia BH1 and BH2 have orbital periods at opposite edges of the Gaia DR3 sensitivity curve, perhaps hinting at a bimodal intrinsic period distribution for wide BH binaries. Dormant BH binaries like Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2 significantly outnumber their close, X-ray bright cousins, but their formation pathways remain uncertain.

We explored the occurrence rate of small close-in planets among Kepler target stars as a function of the iron abundance and the stellar total velocity V tot . We estimated the occurrence rate of those planets by combining information from LAMOST and the California-Kepler Survey (CKS) and found that iron-poor stars exhibit an increase in the occurrence with V tot from f < 0.2 planets per star at V tot < 30 km s −1 to f ∼ 1.2 at V tot > 90 km s −1 . We suggest this planetary profusion may be a result of a higher abundance of α elements associated with iron-poor, high-velocity stars. Furthermore, we have identified an increase in small planet occurrence with iron abundance, particularly for the slower stars (V tot < 30 km s −1 ), where the occurrence increased to f ∼ 1.1 planets per star in the iron-rich domain. Our results suggest there are two regions in the ([Fe/H], [α/Fe]) plane in which stars tend to form and maintain small planets. We argue that analysis of the effect of overall metal content on planet occurrence is incomplete without including information on both iron and α-element enhancement.

Context. The stars in the Milky Way thin and thick disks can be distinguished by several properties such as metallicity and kinematics. It is not clear whether the two populations also differ in the properties of planets orbiting the stars. In order to study this, a careful analysis of both the chemical composition and mass detection limits is required for a sufficiently large sample. Currently, this information is still limited only to large radial-velocity (RV) programs. Based on the recently published archival database of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph, we present a first analysis of low-mass (small) planet occurrence rates in a sample of thin- and thick-disk stars. Aims. We aim to assess the effects of stellar properties on planet occurrence rates and to obtain first estimates of planet occurrence rates in the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy. As a baseline for comparison, we also aim to provide an updated value for the small close-in planet occurrence rate and compare it with the results of previous RV and transit (Kepler) works. Methods. We used archival HARPS RV datasets to calculate detection limits of a sample of stars that were previously analysed for their elemental abundances. For stars with known planets we first subtracted the Keplerian orbit. We then used this information to calculate planet occurrence rates according to a simplified Bayesian model in different regimes of stellar and planet properties. Results. Our results suggest that metal-poor stars and more massive stars host fewer low-mass close-in planets. We find the occurrence rates of these planets in the thin and thick disks to be comparable. In the iron-poor regimes, we find these occurrence rates to be significantly larger at the high-α region (thick-disk stars) as compared with the low-α region (thin-disk stars). In general, we find the average number of close-in small planets (2–100 days, 1–20M⊕) per star (FGK-dwarfs) to be: n¯p = 0.36 ± 0.05, while the fraction of stars with planets is Fh = 0.23−0.03+0.04. Qualitatively, our results agree well with previous estimates based on RV and Kepler surveys. Conclusions. This work provides a first estimate of the close-in small planet occurrence rates in the solar neighbourhood of the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy. It is unclear whether there are other stellar properties related to the Galactic context that affect small-planet occurrence rates, or if it is only the combined effects of stellar metal content and mass. A future larger sample of stars and planets is needed to address those questions.