<p>What percentage of Earth-sized planets in a habitable zone can be detected by the radial velocity method?</p>
<p>I understand that larger planets and closer planets are detected more easily; and I assume that if a planet is in a circular orbit whose plane is nearly perpendicular to our line of sight, that the Doppler method won't be able to detect wobble of the star.</p>
<p>This question goes along with, but is of course different from, <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39533/what-percentage-of-habitable-zone-planets-are-detectable-by-transit/39536#39536">this question</a>; but some of the factors like planet size and orbital radius enter in the same way, while the size of the star would enter in the opposite way.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-26T21:20:48.213Z
Larger planet size or closer orbital radius = star wobbling stronger = easier to be detected.
Larger star = Hotter (given a distance to a planet) = Less likely to be habitable.

I don't think we can quantify for the percentage you asked for because there are many determining factors. And, I don't think we can model planet populations yet.
Kornpob Bhirombhakdi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-27T00:04:53.873Z
No, this is not possible to answer without lots of information. The previous question was just about geometry, this is about detection sensitivity. Detecting planets by the RV method depends on cadence and sensitivity. If you have perfect data then you detect all of them. That is not true for transiting planets.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-27T00:09:53.743Z
That makes sense.  But I'm interested ultimately in an estimate of how many potentially habitable planets are in our general neighborhood, based on what has been detected so far, and the current limits of our detection methods.  So, what might be a reasonsble answer based on current detection sensitivity?
S. McGrew
<habitable-zone><radial-velocity>
What percentage of Earth-sized planets in a habitable zone can be detected by the radial velocity method?
S. McGrew
# What percentage of Earth-sized planets in a habitable zone can be detected by the radial velocity method?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-10-26)

What percentage of Earth-sized planets in a habitable zone can be detected by the radial velocity method?

I understand that larger planets and closer planets are detected more easily; and I assume that if a planet is in a circular orbit whose plane is nearly perpendicular to our line of sight, that the Doppler method won't be able to detect wobble of the star.

This question goes along with, but is of course different from, [this question](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/39533/what-percentage-of-habitable-zone-planets-are-detectable-by-transit/39536#39536); but some of the factors like planet size and orbital radius enter in the same way, while the size of the star would enter in the opposite way.

**Tags:** habitable-zone, radial-velocity

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Larger planet size or closer orbital radius = star wobbling stronger = easier to be detected. Larger star = Hotter (given a distance to a planet) = Less likely to be habitable.  I don't think we can quantify for the percentage you asked for because there are many determining factors. And, I don't think we can model planet populations yet.  
> **username_2**: No, this is not possible to answer without lots of information. The previous question was just about geometry, this is about detection sensitivity. Detecting planets by the RV method depends on cadence and sensitivity. If you have perfect data then you detect all of them. That is not true for transiting planets.  
> **username_0**: That makes sense.  But I'm interested ultimately in an estimate of how many potentially habitable planets are in our general neighborhood, based on what has been detected so far, and the current limits of our detection methods.  So, what might be a reasonsble answer based on current detection sensitivity?  

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