GJ 367b: A dense ultra-short period sub-Earth planet transiting a nearby red dwarf star

Kavli Affiliate: George R. Ricker

| First 5 Authors: Kristine W. F. Lam, Szilárd Csizmadia, Nicola Astudillo-Defru, Xavier Bonfils, Davide Gandolfi

| Summary:

Ultra-short-period (USP) exoplanets have orbital periods shorter than one
day. Precise masses and radii of USPs could provide constraints on their
unknown formation and evolution processes. We report the detection and
characterization of the USP planet GJ 367b using high precision photometry and
radial velocity observations. GJ 367b orbits a bright (V-band magnitude =
10.2), nearby, red (M-type) dwarf star every 7.7 hours. GJ 367b has a radius of
$0.718 pm 0.054$ Earth-radii, a mass of $0.546 pm 0.078$ Earth-masses, making
it a sub-Earth. The corresponding bulk density is $8.106 pm 2.165$ g cm$^-3$,
close to that of iron. An interior structure model predicts the planet has an
iron core radius fraction of $86 pm 5%$, similar to Mercury’s interior.

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