Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2026

TOI-1243 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf TOI-1243, located approximately 140.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.33 Earth radii
  • A mass of 7.70 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.42 g
  • An orbital period of 4.659 days
  • Equilibrium temperature 450 K (177 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 140.86 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.574
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 2,483,984 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

TOI-1243 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.33 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.208 R♃
Mass
7.70 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.024 M♃
Density
3.30 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.42 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.574
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2026
Method Transit
Facility Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Telescope 0.1 m TESS Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1451of 1978

top 73.3%

This planet

2.33R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-1243 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.3311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.007.70317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.301.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.422.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0017.270.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 7.700 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 219698776

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 1119059574424538496

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 1119059574424538496

System

TOI-1243

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.330 R⊕ · percentile 26 / cohort 1978
Mass 7.700 M⊕ · percentile 51 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 4.66 d · percentile 11 / cohort 1946
Distance 43.19 pc · percentile 10 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.574 · percentile 80 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.659 days
Semi-major axis
AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
88.24 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.66 Earth days (1.3% of a terrestrial year).

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.173 %

Duration

0.901 h

Impact parameter b

0.780

Rp / R★

0.041800

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,459,369.8310

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,725 ppm lasting ≈ 0.90 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.041800

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

25.500

Impact parameter (b)

0.780

RV semi-amplitude (K)

4.600 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,459,369.8310

Eq. Temperature

450K

(177 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

17.27

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.574

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

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

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2026-01

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-1243

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

3,515 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.511 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.515 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.20

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.730 dex

Stellar density

5.400 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

2.00 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
43.19 parsec
Light-years 140.86 ly
V-band magnitude
13.43 mag
Voyager-speed travel 2,483,984 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.514.914.92B13.43V12.36Gaia11.20TESS9.73J9.09H8.88K8.72W18.65W28.55W38.94W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

23.127 mas

Total Proper Motion

174.684 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-100.40 mas/yr

PM Declination

-142.95 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.226 · y = 0.220 · z = 0.949

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 135.73264° · Dec 71.63642°

Galactic ℓ, b

141.972° · 35.800°

Ecliptic λ, β

111.275° · 51.563°

HTM-20 index

831173694

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