I accidentally posted a question without being logged in with OpenID. Is there a way to associate that question with my account?

Return to FAQ Index


  For more information, visit "I accidentally created two accounts; how do I merge them?" in the Help Center.




a.k.a. How can you link an OpenID account to a cookie based account?
a.k.a. How do I merge an unregistered account with a registered account
a.k.a. Merging users
a.k.a. How do I associate anonymous questions I’ve asked with my OpenID account?
a.k.a. Is there a way to claim an unregistered user?
(in case anyone searches with those terms)  


Question: Are the known exoplanets representative of the population of exoplanets?
Answer: The known exoplanets are not representive.  Each discovery technique has its own bias.  

For the transit of star technique, the probabilty that a planet transits the star, as observed from a distance, is proportional to the radius of the star and inversely proportional to the orbital radius (semi-major axis).  Also, below a certain size, there will be insufficient signal to noise to detect the planet.  So the transit technique is biased toward planets orbiting close to their star, planets of larger stars, and planets that are above a signal/noise threshold in size.  

The radial velocity of star technique is biased toward finding large mass planets close to their stars.

The direct imaging technique is biased toward finding large planets far away from their stars.