Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2024

TOI-4438 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf TOI-4438, located approximately 98.0 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.52 Earth radii
  • A mass of 5.40 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.85 g
  • An orbital period of 7.446 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0534 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 435 K (162 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 97.96 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.539
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 1,727,518 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

TOI-4438 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.52 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.225 R♃
Mass
5.40 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.017 M♃
Density
1.85 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.85 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.539
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

#1147of 1978

top 57.9%

This planet

2.52R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-4438 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.5211.21
Mass (M⊕)1.005.40317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.851.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.852.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.006.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 5.400 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 22233480

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 4606416269652179328

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 4606416269652179328

System

TOI-4438

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.520 R⊕ · percentile 42 / cohort 1978
Mass 5.400 M⊕ · percentile 14 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 7.45 d · percentile 24 / cohort 1946
Distance 30.03 pc · percentile 7 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.539 · percentile 75 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
7.446 days
Semi-major axis
0.0534 AU
Eccentricity
0.140
Inclination
89.34 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 7.45 Earth days (2.0% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.0534 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.405 %

Duration

2.021 h

Impact parameter b

0.390

Rp / R★

0.062000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,459,396.4117

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 4,046 ppm lasting ≈ 2.02 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.062000

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

29.220

Impact parameter (b)

0.390

RV semi-amplitude (K)

3.500 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,459,396.4117

Long. of periastron (ω)

-70.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

1.78000

Eq. Temperature

435K

(162 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

6.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.539

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

Goffo et al. 2024

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2024-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-4438

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

3,422 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

5.10 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.372 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.368 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.19

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.680 dex

Stellar density

10.100 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-35.81 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.00 km/s

Rotation period

68.00 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
30.03 parsec
Light-years 97.96 ly
V-band magnitude
13.69 mag
Voyager-speed travel 1,727,518 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 7 bands

8.915.215.22B13.69V12.52Gaia11.27TESS9.70J9.13H8.87K

Astrometric Data

Parallax

33.266 mas

Total Proper Motion

572.211 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

29.11 mas/yr

PM Declination

-571.47 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.005 · y = -0.813 · z = 0.582

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 270.31724° · Dec 35.59490°

Galactic ℓ, b

61.795° · 24.997°

Ecliptic λ, β

270.498° · 59.034°

HTM-20 index

649512617

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