Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2024

HD 21520 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) HD 21520, located approximately 258.3 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.70 Earth radii
  • A mass of 17.70 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 2.43 g
  • An orbital period of 25.129 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1726 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 637 K (364 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 258.34 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.333
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 4,555,855 years

HD 21520 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.70 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.241 R♃
Mass
17.70 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.056 M♃
Density
1.35 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
2.43 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.333
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2024
Method Transit
Facility Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Telescope 0.1 m TESS Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#877of 1978

top 44.3%

This planet

2.70R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth HD 21520 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.7011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0017.70317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.351.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.002.432.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0025.740.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 17.700 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 21520

HIP

HIP 16038

TIC

TIC 404518509

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 4847732649308331648

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 4847732649308331648

System

HD 21520

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.697 R⊕ · percentile 56 / cohort 1978
Mass 17.700 M⊕ · percentile 94 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 25.13 d · percentile 69 / cohort 1946
Distance 79.21 pc · percentile 17 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.333 · percentile 36 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
25.129 days
Semi-major axis
0.1726 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.23 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 25.13 Earth days (6.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1726 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.047 %

Duration

4.885 h

Impact parameter b

0.478

Rp / R★

0.023690

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,459,160.0157

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 465 ppm lasting ≈ 4.89 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.023690

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

35.600

Impact parameter (b)

0.478

RV semi-amplitude (K)

1.640 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,459,160.0157

Angular separation (arcsec)

2.18000

Eq. Temperature

637K

(364 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

25.74

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.333

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Nies et al. 2024

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2024-09

Observation locale

Space

Host System: HD 21520

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,871 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

5.30 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.044 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.090 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.420 dex

Stellar density

1.350 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

2.50 km/s

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.930

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
79.21 parsec
Light-years 258.34 ly
V-band magnitude
9.17 mag
Voyager-speed travel 4,555,855 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

7.69.89.81B9.17V9.02Gaia8.60TESS8.05J7.76H7.71K7.63W17.70W27.68W37.59W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

12.596 mas

Total Proper Motion

22.934 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-2.36 mas/yr

PM Declination

-22.81 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.449 · y = 0.568 · z = -0.690

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 51.64034° · Dec -43.61366°

Galactic ℓ, b

251.108° · -54.770°

Ecliptic λ, β

28.744° · -59.171°

HTM-20 index

-665214928

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