Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2024

TOI-238 b

A super-earth orbiting the k-type orange TOI-238, located approximately 262.7 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.56 Earth radii
  • A mass of 3.37 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.39 g
  • An orbital period of 1.273 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0212 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,378 K (1105 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 262.69 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.205
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 4,632,508 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around TOI-238

TOI-238 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-238 b this Super-Earth 1.56 3.37 1.273 1,378 2024
TOI-238 c Sub-Neptune 2.18 6.70 8.466 696 2024

TOI-238 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.56 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.139 R♃
Mass
3.37 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.011 M♃
Density
6.80 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.39 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.205
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

#648of 1176

top 55.0%

This planet

1.56R⊕

Super-Earth median

1.60R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-238 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.5611.21
Mass (M⊕)1.003.37317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.516.801.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.392.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00753.100.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 3.370 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 9006668

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2405081733281425280

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2405081733281425280

System

TOI-238

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.559 R⊕ · percentile 45 / cohort 1176
Mass 3.370 M⊕ · percentile 53 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 1.27 d · percentile 8 / cohort 1164
Distance 80.54 pc · percentile 15 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.205 · percentile 13 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.273 days
Semi-major axis
0.0212 AU
Eccentricity
0.180
Inclination
85.78 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.27 Earth days (0.3% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.0212 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.041 %

Duration

1.587 h

Impact parameter b

0.230

Rp / R★

0.018910

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,460,205.7524

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 414 ppm lasting ≈ 1.59 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.018910

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.030

Impact parameter (b)

0.230

RV semi-amplitude (K)

2.360 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,460,205.7524

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.26300

Eq. Temperature

1,378K

(1105 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

753.10

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.205

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the dayside is scorched. 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

2024-02

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-238

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,059 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.90 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.756 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.781 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.11

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.580 dex

Stellar density

2.640 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

2.30 km/s

Rotation period

26.00 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.740

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
80.54 parsec
Light-years 262.69 ly
V-band magnitude
10.75 mag
Voyager-speed travel 4,632,508 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.411.711.67B10.75V10.49Gaia9.93TESS9.21J8.77H8.60K8.55W18.61W28.56W38.36W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

12.387 mas

Total Proper Motion

53.238 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-53.24 mas/yr

PM Declination

-0.20 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.931 · y = -0.177 · z = -0.319

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 349.23108° · Dec -18.60665°

Galactic ℓ, b

49.354° · -66.671°

Ecliptic λ, β

342.730° · -12.844°

HTM-20 index

986030315

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