Swift J0243.6+6124 is a newly discovered Galactic Be/X-ray binary, revealed in late 2017 September in a giant outburst with a peak luminosity of 2 × 1039(d/7 kpc)2 erg s−1 (0.1-10 keV), with no ...formerly reported activity. At this luminosity, Swift J0243.6+6124 is the first known galactic ultraluminous X-ray pulsar. We describe Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) timing and spectral analyses for this source. A new orbital ephemeris is obtained for the binary system using spin frequencies measured with GBM and 15-50 keV fluxes measured with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Burst Alert Telescope to model the system's intrinsic spin-up. Power spectra measured with NICER show considerable evolution with luminosity, including a quasi-periodic oscillation near 50 mHz that is omnipresent at low luminosity and has an evolving central frequency. Pulse profiles measured over the combined 0.2-100 keV range show complex evolution that is both luminosity and energy dependent. Near the critical luminosity of L ∼ 1038 erg s−1, the pulse profiles transition from single peaked to double peaked, the pulsed fraction reaches a minimum in all energy bands, and the hardness ratios in both NICER and GBM show a turnover to softening as the intensity increases. This behavior repeats as the outburst rises and fades, indicating two distinct accretion regimes. These two regimes are suggestive of the accretion structure on the neutron star surface transitioning from a Coulomb collisional stopping mechanism at lower luminosities to a radiation-dominated stopping mechanism at higher luminosities. This is the highest observed (to date) value of the critical luminosity, suggesting a magnetic field of B ∼ 1013 G.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of TOI-530b, a transiting Saturn-like planet around an M0.5V dwarf, delivered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The host star is located at a ...distance of 147.7 ± 0.6 pc with a radius of R* = 0.54 ± 0.03 R⊙ and a mass of M* = 0.53 ± 0.02 M⊙. We verify the planetary nature of the transit signals by combining ground-based multiwavelength photometry, high-resolution spectroscopy from SPIRou as well as high-angular-resolution imaging. With V = 15.4 mag, TOI-530b is orbiting one of the faintest stars accessible by ground-based spectroscopy. Our model reveals that TOI-530b has a radius of 0.83 ± 0.05 RJ and a mass of 0.37 ± 0.08 MJ on a 6.39-d orbit. TOI-530b is the sixth transiting giant planet hosted by an M-type star, which is predicted to be infrequent according to core accretion theory, making it a valuable object to further study the formation and migration history of similar planets. Furthermore, we identify a potential dearth of hot massive giant planets around M-dwarfs with separation distance smaller than 0.1 au and planet-to-star mass ratio between 2 × 10−3 and 10−2. We also find a possible correlation between hot giant planet formation and the metallicity of its parent M-dwarf. We discuss the potential formation channel of such systems.
Abstract
Observations and statistical studies have shown that giant planets are rare around M dwarfs compared with Sun-like stars. The formation mechanism of these extreme systems has remained under ...debate for decades. With the help of the TESS mission and ground-based follow-up observations, we report the discovery of TOI-4201b, the most massive and densest hot Jupiter around an M dwarf known so far with a radius of 1.22 ± 0.04
R
J
and a mass of 2.48 ± 0.09
M
J
, about 5 times heavier than most other giant planets around M dwarfs. It also has the highest planet-to-star mass ratio (
q
∼ 4 × 10
−3
) among such systems. The host star is an early M dwarf with a mass of 0.61 ± 0.02
M
⊙
and a radius of 0.63 ± 0.02
R
⊙
. It has significant supersolar iron abundance (Fe/H = 0.52 ± 0.08 dex). However, interior structure modeling suggests that its planet TOI-4201b is metal-poor, which challenges the classical core-accretion correlation of stellar−planet metallicity, unless the planet is inflated by additional energy sources. Building on the detection of this planet, we compare the stellar metallicity distribution of four planetary groups: hot/warm Jupiters around G/M dwarfs. We find that hot/warm Jupiters show a similar metallicity dependence around G-type stars. For M-dwarf host stars, the occurrence of hot Jupiters shows a much stronger correlation with iron abundance, while warm Jupiters display a weaker preference, indicating possible different formation histories.
Abstract
We report the discovery and orbital characterization of three new transiting warm giant planets. These systems were initially identified as presenting single-transit events in the light ...curves generated from the full-frame images of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Follow-up radial velocity measurements and additional light curves were used to determine the orbital periods and confirm the planetary nature of the candidates. The planets orbit slightly metal-rich late F- and early G-type stars. We find that TOI 4406b has a mass of
M
P
= 0.30 ± 0.04
M
J
, a radius of
R
P
= 1.00 ± 0.02
R
J
, and a low-eccentricity orbit (
e
= 0.15 ± 0.05) with a period of
P
= 30.08364 ±0.00005 days. TOI 2338b has a mass of
M
P
= 5.98 ± 0.20
M
J
, a radius of
R
P
= 1.00 ± 0.01
R
J
, and a highly eccentric orbit (
e
= 0.676 ± 0.002) with a period of
P
= 22.65398 ± 0.00002 days. Finally, TOI 2589b has a mass of
M
P
= 3.50 ± 0.10
M
J
, a radius of
R
P
= 1.08 ± 0.03
R
J
, and an eccentric orbit (
e
= 0.522 ± 0.006) with a period of
P
= 61.6277 ± 0.0002 days. TOI 4406b and TOI 2338b are enriched in metals compared to their host stars, while the structure of TOI 2589b is consistent with having similar metal enrichment to its host star.
We report the discovery of two planetary systems around comoving stars: TOI-2076 (TIC 27491137) and TOI-1807 (TIC 180695581). TOI-2076 is a nearby (41.9 pc) multiplanetary system orbiting a young ...(204 ± 50 Myr), bright (K = 7.115 in TIC v8.1) start. TOI-1807 hosts a single transiting planet and is similarly nearby (42.58 pc), similarly young (180 ± 40 Myr ), and bright. Both targets exhibit significant, periodic variability due to starspots, characteristic of their young ages. Using photometric data collected by TESS we identify three transiting planets around TOI-2076 with radii of Rb = 3.3 ± 0.04 R⊕, Rc = 4.4 ± 0.05 R⊕, and Rd = 4.1 ± 0.07 R⊕. Planet TOI-2076b has a period of Pb = 10.356 days. For both TOI-2076c and d, TESS observed only two transits, separated by a 2 yr interval in which no data were collected, preventing a unique period determination. A range of long periods (<17 days) are consistent with the data. We identify a short-period planet around TOI-1807 with a radius of Rb = 1.8 ± 0.04 R⊕ and a period of Pb = 0.549 days. Their close proximity, and bright, cool host stars, and young ages make these planets excellent candidates for follow up. TOI-1807b is one of the best-known small (R < 2 ${R}_{\oplus }$) planets for characterization via eclipse spectroscopy and phase curves with JWST. TOI-1807b is the youngest ultra-short-period planet discovered to date, providing valuable constraints on formation timescales of short-period planets. Given the rarity of young planets, particularly in multiple-planet systems, these planets present an unprecedented opportunity to study and compare exoplanet formation, and young planet atmospheres, at a crucial transition age for formation theory.
Abstract
Warm Jupiters—defined here as planets larger than 6 Earth radii with orbital periods of 8–200 days—are a key missing piece in our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve. It ...is currently debated whether Warm Jupiters form in situ, undergo disk or high-eccentricity tidal migration, or have a mixture of origin channels. These different classes of origin channels lead to different expectations for Warm Jupiters’ properties, which are currently difficult to evaluate due to the small sample size. We take advantage of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) survey and systematically search for Warm Jupiter candidates around main-sequence host stars brighter than the TESS-band magnitude of 12 in the full-frame images in Year 1 of the TESS Prime Mission data. We introduce a catalog of 55 Warm Jupiter candidates, including 19 candidates that were not originally released as TESS objects of interest by the TESS team. We fit their TESS light curves, characterize their eccentricities and transit-timing variations, and prioritize a list for ground-based follow-up and TESS Extended Mission observations. Using hierarchical Bayesian modeling, we find the preliminary eccentricity distributions of our Warm-Jupiter-candidate catalog using a beta distribution, a Rayleigh distribution, and a two-component Gaussian distribution as the functional forms of the eccentricity distribution. Additional follow-up observations will be required to clean the sample of false positives for a full statistical study, derive the orbital solutions to break the eccentricity degeneracy, and provide mass measurements.
We present the discovery of TOI-1518b—an ultra-hot Jupiter orbiting a bright star (V = 8.95). The transiting planet is confirmed using high-resolution optical transmission spectra from EXPRES. It is ...inflated, with Rp = 1.875 ± 0.053 RJ, and exhibits several interesting properties, including a misaligned orbit (240.34 (+0.93, -0.98) degrees) and nearly grazing transit (b=0.9036 (+0.0061, -0.0053)). The planet orbits a fast-rotating F0 host star (Teff ≃ 7300 K) in 1.9 days and experiences intense irradiation. Notably, the TESS data show a clear secondary eclipse with a depth of 364 ± 28 ppm and a significant phase-curve signal, from which we obtain a relative day–night planetary flux difference of roughly 320 ppm and a 5.2σ detection of ellipsoidal distortion on the host star. Prompted by recent detections of atomic and ionized species in ultra-hot Jupiter atmospheres, we conduct an atmospheric cross-correlation analysis. We detect neutral iron (5.2σ), at K(p) = 157 (+68, -44) km/s and V(sys) = -16 (+2, -4), adding another object to the small sample of highly irradiated gas-giant planets with Fe detections in transmission. Detections so far favor particularly inflated gas giants with radii ≳1.78 R(J), which may be due to observational bias. With an equilibrium temperature of T(eq) = 2492 ± 38 K and a measured dayside brightness temperature of 3237 ± 59 K (assuming zero geometric albedo), TOI-1518b is a promising candidate for future emission spectroscopy to probe for a thermal inversion.
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of two transiting planets detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b, orbiting a K5V and an F8V star, respectively, with ...periods of 4.31 and 1.27 d, respectively. We confirm and characterize these two planets with a variety of ground-based and follow-up observations, including photometry, precise radial velocity monitoring and high-resolution imaging. The planetary and orbital parameters were derived from a joint analysis of the radial velocities and photometric data. We found that the two planets have masses of (57 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.18 ± 0.01) MJ, and (68 ± 4) M⊕ or (0.21 ± 0.01) MJ, respectively, and they have radii of (6.8 ± 0.3) R⊕ or (0.61 ± 0.03) RJ and (7.2 ± 0.5) R⊕ or (0.64 ± 0.05) RJ, respectively. These parameters correspond to sub-Saturns within the Neptunian desert, both planets being hot and highly irradiated, with Teq ≈ 745 K and Teq ≈ 1812 K, respectively, assuming a Bond albedo of 0.5. TOI-3071 b has the hottest equilibrium temperature of all known planets with masses between 10 and 300 M⊕ and radii less than 1.5 RJ. By applying gas giant evolution models we found that both planets, especially TOI-3071 b, are very metal-rich. This challenges standard formation models which generally predict lower heavy-element masses for planets with similar characteristics. We studied the evolution of the planets’ atmospheres under photoevaporation and concluded that both are stable against evaporation due to their large masses and likely high metallicities in their gaseous envelopes.
We report the discovery of TOI 694 b and TIC 220568520 b, two low-mass stellar companions in eccentric orbits around metal-rich Sun-like stars, first detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey ...Satellite (TESS). TOI 694 b has an orbital period of 48.05131 0.00019 days and eccentricity of 0.51946 0.00081, and we derive a mass of 89.0 5.3 (0.0849 0.0051 ) and radius of 1.111 0.017 (0.1142 0.0017 ). TIC 220568520 b has an orbital period of 18.55769 0.00039 days and eccentricity of 0.0964 0.0032, and we derive a mass of 107.2 5.2 (0.1023 0.0050 ) and radius of 1.248 0.018 (0.1282 0.0019 ). Both binary companions lie close to and above the hydrogen-burning mass threshold that separates brown dwarfs and the lowest-mass stars, with TOI 694 b being 2 above the canonical mass threshold of 0.075 . The relatively long periods of the systems mean that the magnetic fields of the low-mass companions are not expected to inhibit convection and inflate the radius, which according to one leading theory is common in similar objects residing in short-period tidally synchronized binary systems. Indeed we do not find radius inflation for these two objects when compared to theoretical isochrones. These two new objects add to the short but growing list of low-mass stars with well-measured masses and radii, and highlight the potential of the TESS mission for detecting such rare objects orbiting bright stars.