1. TOI-1235 b: A Keystone Super-Earth for Testing Radius Valley Emergence Models around Early M Dwarfs
- Author
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Cloutier, Ryan, Rodriguez, Joseph E, Irwin, Jonathan, Charbonneau, David, Stassun, Keivan G, Mortier, Annelies, Latham, David W, Isaacson, Howard, Howard, Andrew W, Udry, Stéphane, Wilson, Thomas G, Watson, Christopher A, Pinamonti, Matteo, Lienhard, Florian, Giacobbe, Paolo, Guerra, Pere, Collins, Karen A, Beiryla, Allyson, Esquerdo, Gilbert A, Matthews, Elisabeth, Matson, Rachel A, Howell, Steve B, Furlan, Elise, Crossfield, Ian JM, Winters, Jennifer G, Nava, Chantanelle, Ment, Kristo, Lopez, Eric D, Ricker, George, Vanderspek, Roland, Seager, Sara, Jenkins, Jon M, Ting, Eric B, Tenenbaum, Peter, Sozzetti, Alessandro, Sha, Lizhou, Ségransan, Damien, Schlieder, Joshua E, Sasselov, Dimitar, Roy, Arpita, Robertson, Paul, Rice, Ken, Poretti, Ennio, Piotto, Giampaolo, Phillips, David, Pepper, Joshua, Pepe, Francesco, Molinari, Emilio, Mocnik, Teo, Micela, Giuseppina, Mayor, Michel, Fiorenzano, Aldo F Martinez, Mallia, Franco, Lubin, Jack, Lovis, Christophe, López-Morales, Mercedes, Kosiarek, Molly R, Kielkopf, John F, Kane, Stephen R, Jensen, Eric LN, Isopi, Giovanni, Huber, Daniel, Hill, Michelle L, Harutyunyan, Avet, Gonzales, Erica, Giacalone, Steven, Ghedina, Adriano, Ercolino, Andrea, Dumusque, Xavier, Dressing, Courtney D, Damasso, Mario, Dalba, Paul A, Cosentino, Rosario, Conti, Dennis M, Colón, Knicole D, Collins, Kevin I, Cameron, Andrew Collier, Ciardi, David, Christiansen, Jessie, Chontos, Ashley, Cecconi, Massimo, Caldwell, Douglas A, Burke, Christopher, Buchhave, Lars, Beichman, Charles, Behmard, Aida, Beard, Corey, and Murphy, Joseph M Akana
- Subjects
Radial velocity ,M dwarf stars ,Transit photometry ,Exoplanet formation ,Exoplanet structure ,astro-ph.EP ,astro-ph.SR ,Astronomical and Space Sciences ,Astronomy & Astrophysics - Abstract
Small planets on close-in orbits tend to exhibit envelope mass fractions of either effectively zero or up to a few percent depending on their size and orbital period. Models of thermally driven atmospheric mass loss and of terrestrial planet formation in a gas-poor environment make distinct predictions regarding the location of this rocky/nonrocky transition in period-radius space. Here we present the confirmation of TOI-1235 b (P = 3.44 days, rp1.738-0.076+0.087 R⊕), a planet whose size and period are intermediate between the competing model predictions, thus making the system an important test case for emergence models of the rocky/nonrocky transition around early M dwarfs (R s = 0.630± 0.015 ⊕, M s = 0.640 ± 0.016 ⊙. We confirm the TESS planet discovery using reconnaissance spectroscopy, ground-based photometry, high-resolution imaging, and a set of 38 precise radial velocities (RVs) from HARPS-N and HIRES. We measure a planet mass of 6.91-0.85+0.75M⊕ which implies an iron core mass fraction of 20-12+15% in the absence of a gaseous envelope. The bulk composition of TOI-1235 b is therefore consistent with being Earth-like, and we constrain an H/He envelope mass fraction to be
- Published
- 2020