Sadid Hassan and CJ Dunham
Currently, exoplanets are classified into four differentcategories based on their size: terrestrial, super-earth, Neptunian, andGas Giants. According to Kepler’s Third Law of planetary motion, thesquares of the orbital periods of these planets are directlyproportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes of their orbits. Thepurpose of this research is to investigate whether this law alwaysapplies to each category of exoplanets. If not, the research aims tounderstand the factors that could cause a divergence from therelationship, and whether those differences are a trend in thatparticular exoplanet type. It is expected that exoplanetary systems willfollow Kepler’s Third Law if: 1. the exoplanets are much less massivethan the parent star, 2. gravitational influence between the planets isnot significant, 3. the stellar system is clear of dust and debris, and4. the system does not contain multiple stars. Our preliminary resultsshow that there are several systems of exoplanets that deviate from suchKepler’s Third Law with majority being among the terrestrial type.Further, this research aims to explore the factors that could cause thisshift, whether it be experimental errors or the existence of a hiddencelestial body in the planetary system influencing the orbit of aparticular planet.