Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2025

TOI-1438 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange TOI-1438, located approximately 360.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.04 Earth radii
  • A mass of 9.40 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.02 g
  • An orbital period of 5.140 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0553 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 971 K (698 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 360.44 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.238
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 6,356,443 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around TOI-1438

TOI-1438 b shares its host star with 1 other confirmed planet. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
TOI-1438 b this Sub-Neptune 3.04 9.40 5.140 971 2025
TOI-1438 c Sub-Neptune 2.75 10.60 9.428 794 2025

TOI-1438 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.04 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.271 R♃
Mass
9.40 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.030 M♃
Density
1.80 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.02 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.238
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2025
Method Transit
Facility Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Telescope 0.1 m TESS Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#481of 1978

top 24.3%

This planet

3.04R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-1438 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.0411.21
Mass (M⊕)1.009.40317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.801.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.022.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00145.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 9.400 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 229650439

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2268101727131230464

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2268101727131230464

System

TOI-1438

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.040 R⊕ · percentile 75 / cohort 1978
Mass 9.400 M⊕ · percentile 68 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 5.14 d · percentile 13 / cohort 1946
Distance 110.51 pc · percentile 22 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.238 · percentile 14 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
5.140 days
Semi-major axis
0.0553 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
86.21 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 5.14 Earth days (1.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0553 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.077 %

Duration

1.040 h

Impact parameter b

0.956

Rp / R★

0.034100

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,458,683.6256

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 770 ppm lasting ≈ 1.04 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.034100

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

14.500

Impact parameter (b)

0.956

RV semi-amplitude (K)

3.800 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,458,683.6256

Long. of periastron (ω)

90.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.50000

Eq. Temperature

971K

(698 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

145.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.238

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

Primary reference

Persson et al. 2025

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2025-08

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-1438

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,230 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.20 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.820 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.876 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.03

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.500 dex

Stellar density

2.200 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-29.40 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.80 km/s

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.925

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
110.51 parsec
Light-years 360.44 ly
V-band magnitude
10.96 mag
Voyager-speed travel 6,356,443 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.812.011.97B10.96V10.85Gaia10.32TESS9.58J9.19H9.09K9.05W19.12W29.04W38.80W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

9.020 mas

Total Proper Motion

58.079 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-23.08 mas/yr

PM Declination

53.29 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.049 · y = -0.255 · z = 0.966

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 280.92378° · Dec 74.93783°

Galactic ℓ, b

106.043° · 26.624°

Ecliptic λ, β

71.822° · 80.916°

HTM-20 index

1647446786

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