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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
TOI-332 b: a super dense Neptune found deep within the Neptunian desert
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 526, No. 1, Year 2023
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Description
To date, thousands of planets have been discovered, but there are regions of the orbital parameter space that are still bare. An example is the short period and intermediate mass/radius space known as the 'Neptunian desert', where planets should be easy to find but discoveries remain few. This suggests unusual formation and evolution processes are responsible for the planets residing here. We present the discovery of TOI-332 b, a planet with an ultra-short period of 0.78 d that sits firmly within the desert. It orbits a K0 dwarf with an effective temperature of 5251 ± 71 K. TOI-332 b has a radius of R, smaller than that of Neptune, but an unusually large mass of 57.2 ± 1.6 M. It has one of the highest densities of any Neptune-sized planet discovered thus far at g cm-3. A 4-layer internal structure model indicates it likely has a negligible hydrogen-helium envelope, something only found for a small handful of planets this massive, and so TOI-332 b presents an interesting challenge to planetary formation theories. We find that photoevaporation cannot account for the mass-loss required to strip this planet of the Jupiter-like envelope it would have been expected to accrete. We need to look towards other scenarios, such as high-eccentricity migration, giant impacts, or gap opening in the protoplanetary disc, to try and explain this unusual discovery. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Osborn, Ares
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Armstrong, David J.
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Adibekyan, Vardan Zh
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Collins, Karen A.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard-smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Delgado Mena, Elisa
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Fridlund, Malcolm C.V.
Sweden, Gothenburg
Chalmers University of Technology
Gomes da Silva, João
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Hellier, Coel
United Kingdom, Keele
Keele University
Jackson, David G.
United Kingdom, Belfast
Queen's University Belfast
King, George W.
United States, Ann Arbor
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Germany, Heidelberg
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Lillo-Box, Jorge
Spain, Madrid
Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial
Matson, Rachel A.
United States, Washington, D.c.
U.s. Naval Observatory
Matthews, Elisabeth C.
Germany, Heidelberg
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Santos, Nuno C.
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Portugal, Porto
Universidade do Porto
Sousa, Sérgio G.
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Stassun, Keivan G.
United States, Nashville
Vanderbilt University
Tan, Thiam Guan
Australia, Perth
Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope
Ricker, George R.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Vanderspek, Roland K.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Latham, David W.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard-smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Seager, Sara
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Winn, Joshua N.
United States, Princeton
Princeton University
Jenkins, Jon M.
United States, Moffett Field
Nasa Ames Research Center
Bayliss, Daniel D.R.
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Bouma, Luke G.
United States, Pasadena
California Institute of Technology
Ciardi, David R.
United States, Pasadena
California Institute of Technology
Collins, Kevin I.
United States, Fairfax
George Mason University
Colón, Knicole D.
United States, Greenbelt
Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center
Crossfield, Ian J.M.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Demangeon, Olivier D.S.
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Portugal, Porto
Universidade do Porto
Díaz, Rodrigo F.
Argentina, San Martin
Universidad Nacional de San Martín
Dorn, Caroline
Switzerland, Zurich
Eth Zürich
Dumusque, Xavier
Switzerland, Geneva
Faculty of Science
Figueira, Pedro
Portugal, Porto
Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço
Switzerland, Geneva
Faculty of Science
Gan, Tianjun
China, Beijing
Tsinghua University
Goeke, Robert F.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hawthorn, Faith
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Howell, Steve B.
United States, Moffett Field
Nasa Ames Research Center
Nielsen, Louise Dyregaard
Germany, Garching Bei Munchen
European Southern Observatory
Osborn, Hugh P.
Switzerland, Bern
University of Bern
Quinn, Samuel N.
United States, Cambridge
Harvard-smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Sefako, Ramotholo R.
South Africa, Cape Town
South African Astronomical Observatory
Shporer, Avi
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Strøm, Paul A.
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Twicken, Joseph D.
United States, Moffett Field
Nasa Ames Research Center
United States, Mountain View
Seti Institute
Vanderburg, Andrew M.
United States, Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wheatley, Peter J.
United Kingdom, Coventry
University of Warwick
Statistics
Authors: 47
Affiliations: 28
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1093/mnras/stad2575
ISSN:
00358711