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The Kepler Mission has fueled a revolution in the understanding of the demographics and composition of exoplanets. As a transiting planet mission, Kepler fundamentally enables the derivation of the planetary radius. The sizes of these planets are ascertained directly from the transit depth and the determination of the stellar radii. But the radii also depend strongly on the amount the transit depth is diluted by the addition of light from stars blended into the photometric aperture. Without properly accounting for the flux dilution from bound and line-of-sights stars, precise planetary radii cannot be determined. Determination of the bulk composition and atmospheric abundances, requires accurate and precise knowledge of the planetary bulk density and surface gravity, which relies on knowledge of the planetary radii. Because of the presence of stellar companions, both known and unknown, the derivation of planetary radii can be biased towards smaller radii and, therefore, the densities are biased towards higher densities once the masses are determined. Thus, characterizing the stellar multiplicity of planetary systems is critical to understanding the sizes, densities, and frequency of planets. |
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