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Average Radius of Exoplanets in our Galaxy

-- Bei | May 23, 2022

Question:

what is the average size of planets in our galaxy?

hello

i am doing a project for my classes and wondered what is the average size of a planet in our galaxy (diameter) , the range being Pluto of 2,376.6km and tres 4b being 257,230km, i know that i can just find the average by adding the two then dividing it but for me that is inaccurate as i don’t know how often a planets the size of Pluto or tres 4b are formed , my calculations of (2,376.6 + 257,230) : 2 = 129,803.30km seem off as the average planet size by diameter in our solar system is 36,133km. with the Milky Way having many sources estimate of the number of planets that differ from either 100 billion or 800 billion-3.2 trillion. the variables for me seem very complicated and confusing so i am hoping if you have the answer

kind Regards,
Bei

Ps. i love this website and have used it multiple times as a source of information during assignments <33

-- Bei

Answer:

Related to some recent questions regarding exoplanet properties, I have pointed to the Open Exoplanet Catalog as a source of exoplanet properties. You can extract the measured exoplanet radii from this catalog and plot their distribution to determine the average radius.

-- Jeff Mangum

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