Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2020

TOI-942 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange TOI-942, located approximately 497.7 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.89 Earth radii
  • A mass of 16.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.06 g
  • An orbital period of 4.324 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0487 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,120 K (847 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 497.72 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.145
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 8,777,244 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around TOI-942

TOI-942 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-942 b this Sub-Neptune 3.89 16.00 4.324 1,120 2020
TOI-942 c Neptune-like 4.67 37.00 10.156 2020

TOI-942 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.89 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.347 R♃
Mass
16.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.050 M♃
Density
g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.06 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.145
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2020
Method Transit
Facility Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Telescope 0.1 m TESS Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#28of 1978

top 1.4%

This planet

3.89R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth TOI-942 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.8911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0016.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.062.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00261.860.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 16.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 146520535

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2974906868489280768

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2974906868489280768

System

TOI-942

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.890 R⊕ · percentile 98 / cohort 1978
Mass 16.000 M⊕ · percentile 94 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 4.32 d · percentile 10 / cohort 1946
Distance 152.60 pc · percentile 25 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.145 · percentile 2 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.324 days
Semi-major axis
0.0487 AU
Eccentricity
0.340
Inclination
89.97 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.32 Earth days (1.2% of a terrestrial year) on a highly eccentric trajectory at a mean orbital distance of 0.0487 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.148 %

Duration

3.403 h

Impact parameter b

0.050

Rp / R★

0.039950

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,458,441.5790

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,480 ppm lasting ≈ 3.40 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.039950

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

10.120

Impact parameter (b)

0.050

RV semi-amplitude (K)

7.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,458,441.5790

Long. of periastron (ω)

-16.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

1.00°

True obliquity (ψ)

2.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.31900

Eq. Temperature

1,120K

(847 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

261.86

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.145

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.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Carleo et al. 2021

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2021-01

Observation locale

Space

Host System: TOI-942

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,969 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.05 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.894 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.822 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.22

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.314 dex

Stellar density

1.634 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

25.32 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

14.24 km/s

Rotation period

3.39 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
152.60 parsec
Light-years 497.72 ly
V-band magnitude
11.98 mag
Voyager-speed travel 8,777,244 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 14 bands

8.512.812.78B11.98V11.63Gaia11.05TESS12.39Sloan g11.65Sloan r11.39Sloan i10.23J9.75H9.64K9.58W19.61W29.45W38.48W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

6.524 mas

Total Proper Motion

15.887 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

15.38 mas/yr

PM Declination

-3.98 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.217 · y = 0.913 · z = -0.346

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 76.64962° · Dec -20.24561°

Galactic ℓ, b

220.981° · -31.775°

Ecliptic λ, β

72.797° · -42.891°

HTM-20 index

-510592518

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