The Neptune desert is a feature seen in the radius-mass-period plane, whereby a notable dearth of short period, Neptune-like planets is found. Here we report the {\it TESS} discovery of a new ...short-period planet in the Neptune desert, orbiting the G-type dwarf TYC\,8003-1117-1 (TOI-132). {\it TESS} photometry shows transit-like dips at the level of \(\sim\)1400 ppm occurring every \(\sim\)2.11 days. High-precision radial velocity follow-up with HARPS confirmed the planetary nature of the transit signal and provided a semi-amplitude radial velocity variation of \(\sim\)11.5 m s\(^{-1}\), which, when combined with the stellar mass of \(0.97\pm0.06\) \(M_{\odot}\), provides a planetary mass of 22.83\(^{+1.81}_{-1.80}\) \(M_{\oplus}\). Modeling the {\it TESS} high-quality light curve returns a planet radius of 3.43\(^{+0.13}_{-0.14}\) \(R_{\oplus}\), and therefore the planet bulk density is found to be 3.11\(^{+0.44}_{-0.450}\) g cm\(^{-3}\). Planet structure models suggest that the bulk of the planet mass is in the form of a rocky core, with an atmospheric mass fraction of 4.3\(^{+1.2}_{-2.3}\)\%. TOI-132 b is a {\it TESS} Level 1 Science Requirement candidate, and therefore priority follow-up will allow the search for additional planets in the system, whilst helping to constrain low-mass planet formation and evolution models, particularly valuable for better understanding the Neptune desert.
We report the detection of a transiting planet around \(\pi\) Mensae (HD 39091), using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The solar-type host star is unusually bright (V=5.7) ...and was already known to host a Jovian planet on a highly eccentric, 5.7-year orbit. The newly discovered planet has a size of \(2.04\pm 0.05\) \(R_\oplus\) and an orbital period of 6.27 days. Radial-velocity data from the HARPS and AAT/UCLES archives also displays a 6.27-day periodicity, confirming the existence of the planet and leading to a mass determination of \(4.82\pm 0.85\) \(M_\oplus\). The star's proximity and brightness will facilitate further investigations, such as atmospheric spectroscopy, asteroseismology, the Rossiter--McLaughlin effect, astrometry, and direct imaging.
