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TOI-4336 A b: A Temperate Sub-Neptune Ripe For Atmospheric Characterization In A Nearby Triple M-dwarf System

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
astro-ph.EP
April 24, 2024
Filed under , , , , , , ,
TOI-4336 A b: A Temperate Sub-Neptune Ripe For Atmospheric Characterization In A Nearby Triple M-dwarf System
TESS Target Pixel Files showing the custom apertures used to extract the photometry of TOI-4336 A b in this work for Sectors 11, 38, and 64. — astro-ph.EP

Small planets transiting bright nearby stars are essential to our understanding of the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. However, few constitute prime targets for atmospheric characterization, and even fewer are part of multiple star systems.

This work aims to validate TOI-4336 A b, a sub-Neptune-sized exoplanet candidate identified by the TESS space-based transit survey around a nearby M-dwarf. We validate the planetary nature of TOI-4336 A b through the global analysis of TESS and follow-up multi-band high-precision photometric data from ground-based telescopes, medium- and high-resolution spectroscopy of the host star, high-resolution speckle imaging, and archival images.

The newly discovered exoplanet TOI-4336 A b has a radius of 2.1±0.1R. Its host star is an M3.5-dwarf star of mass 0.33±0.01M and radius 0.33±0.02Rmember of a hierarchical triple M-dwarf system 22 pc away from the Sun.

The planet’s orbital period of 16.3 days places it at the inner edge of the Habitable Zone of its host star, the brightest of the inner binary pair. The parameters of the system make TOI-4336 A b an extremely promising target for the detailed atmospheric characterization of a temperate sub-Neptune by transit transmission spectroscopy with JWST.

M. Timmermans, G. Dransfield, M. Gillon, A.H.M.J. Triaud, B.V. Rackham, C. Aganze, K. Barkaoui, C. Briceño, A.J. Burgasser, K.A. Collins, M. Cointepas, M. Dévora-Pajares, E. Ducrot, S. Zúñiga-Fernández, S.B. Howell, L. Kaltenegger, C.A. Murray, E.K. Pass, S.N. Quinn, S.N. Raymond, D. Sebastian, K.G. Stassun, C. Ziegler, J.M. Almenara, Z. Benkhaldoun, X. Bonfils, J.L. Christiansen, F. Davoudi, J. de Wit, L. Delrez, B.-O. Demory, W. Fong, G. Fűrész, M. Ghachoui, L.J. Garcia, Y. Gómez Maqueo Chew, M.J. Hooton, K. Horne, M.N. Günther, E. Jehin, J.M. Jenkins, N. Law, A.W. Mann, F. Murgas, F.J. Pozuelos, P.P. Pedersen, D. Queloz, G. Ricker, P. Rowden, R.P. Schwarz, S. Seager, R.L. Smart, G. Srdoc, S. Striegel, S. Thompson, R. Vanderspek, J.N. Winn

Comments: 27 pages, 19 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:2404.12722 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2404.12722v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Mathilde Timmermans
[v1] Fri, 19 Apr 2024 09:04:12 UTC (9,544 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.12722

Astrobiology

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻