Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2024

TOI-3261 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange TOI-3261, located approximately 978.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.82 Earth radii
  • A mass of 30.30 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 2.08 g
  • An orbital period of 0.883 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0171 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,722 K (1449 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 978.93 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.126
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 17,263,392 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

TOI-3261 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.82 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.341 R♃
Mass
30.30 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.095 M♃
Density
3.00 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
2.08 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.126
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

#54of 1978

top 2.7%

This planet

3.82R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-3261 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.8211.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0030.30317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.001.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.002.082.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,466.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 30.300 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 358070912

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 4640654168385886592

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 4640654168385886592

System

TOI-3261

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.820 R⊕ · percentile 97 / cohort 1978
Mass 30.300 M⊕ · percentile 97 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 0.88 d · percentile 0 / cohort 1946
Distance 300.14 pc · percentile 35 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.126 · percentile 1 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
0.883 days
Semi-major axis
0.0171 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
87.80 °

Year Length

A year here lasts roughly 21.2 hours long on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0171 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.207 %

Duration

1.618 h

Impact parameter b

0.170

Rp / R★

0.041100

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,459,112.4004

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 2,068 ppm lasting ≈ 1.62 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.041100

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

4.333

Impact parameter (b)

0.170

RV semi-amplitude (K)

22.100 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,459,112.4004

Long. of periastron (ω)

0.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.05710

Eq. Temperature

1,722K

(1449 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,466.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.126

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

Primary reference

Nabbie et al. 2024

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2024-07

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-3261

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,068 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

6.50 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.849 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.861 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.14

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.190 dex

Stellar density

1.400 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

2.83 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
300.14 parsec
Light-years 978.93 ly
V-band magnitude
13.26 mag
Voyager-speed travel 17,263,392 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

9.314.214.16B13.26V13.06Gaia12.49TESS11.66J11.27H11.18K11.13W111.21W211.15W39.34W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.303 mas

Total Proper Motion

61.034 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

50.29 mas/yr

PM Declination

34.59 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.191 · y = 0.210 · z = -0.959

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 47.72852° · Dec -73.53197°

Galactic ℓ, b

290.698° · -40.111°

Ecliptic λ, β

315.249° · -74.426°

HTM-20 index

31811661

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