The Observational Case for Jupiter Being a Typical Massive Planet

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Abstract
We identify a subsample of the recently detected extrasolar planets that is minimally affected by the selection effects of the Doppler detection method. With a simple analysis we quantify trends in the surface density of this subsample in the period–Msin(i) plane. A modest extrapolation of these trends puts Jupiter in the most densely occupied region of this parameter space, thus indicating that Jupiter is a typical massive planet rather than an outlier. Our analysis suggests that Jupiter is more typical than indicated by previous analyses. For example, instead of MJup mass exoplanets being twice as common as 2 MJup exoplanets, we find they are three times as common.