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    "story_id": "mp-2026-11-03-005",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-neptunian-ridge-tess",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-11-03-morning-0116",
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    "headline": "TESS Finds the Neptunian Ridge Again",
    "slug": "tess-finds-the-neptunian-ridge-again",
    "dek": "An independent occurrence analysis finds roughly twice the planet density at three-to-six-day orbits for planets five to eight Earth radii.",
    "summary": "An independent occurrence analysis finds roughly twice the planet density at three-to-six-day orbits for planets five to eight Earth radii.",
    "body_text": "Kepler data identified an overdensity between the Neptunian desert and savanna. Using TESS occurrence posteriors for FGK main-sequence stars, this analysis finds that five-to-eight-Earth-radius planets are about 2.05 times as dense in the ridge as in the denser neighboring region, with 99.9 percent posterior support. Profiles peaking inside the ridge outperform a single power law, and a lognormal profile is preferred, although evidence for asymmetry is weak. The same analysis recovers the hot-Jupiter pileup and finds no analogous sub-Neptune excess. The shape is compatible with high-eccentricity migration, but the study does not establish that mechanism.",
    "why_it_matters": "An independent occurrence analysis finds roughly twice the planet density at three-to-six-day orbits for planets five to eight Earth radii.",
    "limitations": [
      "The shape is compatible with high-eccentricity migration, but the study does not establish that mechanism."
    ],
    "importance": 8,
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    "first_published_at": "2026-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00",
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        "text": "An independent occurrence analysis finds roughly twice the planet density at three-to-six-day orbits for planets five to eight Earth radii.",
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        "qualification": "The shape is compatible with high-eccentricity migration, but the study does not establish that mechanism."
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    "tags": [
      "exoplanets",
      "TESS",
      "planet occurrence",
      "orbital migration"
    ],
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-11-03-005",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2611.03643, original v1",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.03643v1",
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      "source_type": "primary_research",
      "is_primary_source": true,
      "published_at": "2026-11-02T13:58:36.000-05:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-11-03T08:18:17.000-05:00",
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    "name": "The Machine Press",
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    "title": "TESS Finds the Neptunian Ridge Again",
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