Discovery and Characterization of an Eccentric, Warm Saturn Transiting the Solar Analog TOI-4994

Kavli Affiliate: Sara Seager

| First 5 Authors: Romy Rodriguez Martinez, Jason D. Eastman, Karen Collins, Joseph Rodriguez, David Charbonneau

| Summary:

We present the detection and characterization of TOI-4994b (TIC 277128619b),
a warm Saturn-sized planet discovered by the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS). TOI-4994b transits a G-type star (V = 12.6 mag) with a mass,
radius, and effective temperature of $M_{star} =1.005^{+0.064}_{-0.061}
M_{odot}$, $R_{star} = 1.055^{+0.040}_{-0.037} R_{odot}$, and $T_{rm eff} =
5640 pm 110$ K. We obtained follow-up ground-based photometry from the Las
Cumbres Observatory (LCO) and the Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets
(ASTEP) telescopes, and we confirmed the planetary nature of TOI-4994b with
multiple radial velocity observations from the PFS, CHIRON, HARPS, FEROS, and
CORALIE instruments. From a global fit to the photometry and radial velocities,
we determine that TOI-4994b is in a 21.5-day, eccentric orbit ($e = 0.32 pm
0.04$) and has a mass of $M_{P}= 0.280^{+0.037}_{-0.034} M_{J}$, a radius of
$R_{P}= 0.762^{+0.030}_{-0.027}R_{J}$, and a Saturn-like bulk density of
$rho_{p} = 0.78^{+0.16}_{-0.14}$ $rm g/cm^3$. We find that TOI-4994 is a
potentially viable candidate for follow-up stellar obliquity measurements.
TOI-4994b joins the small sample of warm Saturn analogs and thus sheds light on
our understanding of these rare and unique worlds.

| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Sara Seager”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3

Read More