[Mesa-users] Planet Radius and EOS question (Isaac Malsky)

[Daria Kubyshkina]

 Dear Isaac,

I have encountered the same problem when trying to look at the low-mass
planets using the MESA  version 12115. Apparently, the issue appears in
MESA versions starting from 11532, and is connected to the new default
method to access OPAL/SCVH data, eosDT2, introduced at this stage (see
Paxton et al., 2019, Appendix 1). I assume, there is some inconsistency
between OPAL and SCVH tables for thin atmospheres, which was not affecting
the radii when using an old method.

The problem disappears if setting *use_eosDT2 = .false. *In
controls.defaults it is actually stated that this option does not apply if
*lnPgas_flag* is true, but it seems to be wrong. With the *use_eosDT2*
flag being false, the radii behave as in older versions of MESA.

The issue also does not appear for higher heating/thicker atmospheres, so
it seems to be quite local.

Kind regards,
Daria Kubyshkina
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