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1. TOI-1135 b: A young hot Saturn-size planet orbiting a solar-type star

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202349016  

   Mallorquín, M; Lodieu, N; Béjar, V_J S; Zapatero_Osorio, M R; Sanz-Forcada, J; Alarcon, M R; Tabernero, H M; Nagel, E; Collins, K A; Ciardi, D R; et al (May 2024, Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   Despite the thousands of planets in orbit around stars known to date, the mechanisms of planetary formation, migration, and atmospheric loss remain unresolved. In this work, we confirm the planetary nature of a young Saturn-size planet transiting a solar-type star every 8.03 d, TOI-1135 b. The age of the parent star is estimated to be in the interval of 125-1000 Myr based on various activity and age indicators, including its stellar rotation period of 5.13 ± 0.27 days and the intensity of photospheric lithium. We obtained follow-up photometry and spectroscopy, including precise radial velocity measurements using the CARMENES spectrograph, which together with the TESS data allowed us to fully characterise the parent star and its planet. As expected for its youth, the star is rather active and shows strong photometric and spectroscopic variability correlating with its rotation period. We modelled the stellar variability using Gaussian process regression. We measured the planetary radius at 9.02 ± 0.23R_⊕(0.81 ± 0.02R_Jup) and determined a 3σupper limit of < 51.4M_⊕(< 0.16M_Jup) on the planetary mass by adopting a circular orbit. Our results indicate that TOI-1135 b is an inflated planet less massive than Saturn or Jupiter but with a similar radius, which could be in the process of losing its atmosphere by photoevaporation. This new young planet occupies a region of the mass-radius diagram where older planets are scarse, and it could be very helpful to understanding the lower frequency of planets with sizes between Neptune and Saturn. 

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2. TESS Investigation—Demographics of Young Exoplanets (TI-DYE). III. An Inner Super-Earth in TOI 2076

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/add7db  

   Barber, Madyson G; Mann, Andrew W; Vanderburg, Andrew; Boyle, Andrew W; Lopez_Murillo, Ana Isabel (June 2025, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract Young (<500 Myr) multiplanet transiting systems are valuable environments for understanding planet evolution by offering an opportunity to make direct comparisons between planets from the same formation conditions. TOI 2076 is known to harbor three 2.5–4R_⊕planets on 10–35 days orbits. All three are JWST cycle 3 targets (for transmission spectroscopy). Here, we present the detection of TOI 2076 e; a smaller (1.35R_⊕) inner (3.02 days) planet in the system. We update the age of the system by analyzing the rotation periods, lithium equivalent widths, color–magnitude diagram, and variability of likely comoving stars, finding that TOI 2076 and comoving planetary system TOI 1807 are 210 ± 20 Myr. The discovery of TOI 2076 e is motivation to revisit known transiting systems in search of additional planets that are now detectable with new TESS data and updated search methods. 

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3. TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME). XI. An Earth-sized Planet Orbiting a Nearby, Solar-like Host in the 400 Myr Ursa Major Moving Group

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad1039  

   Capistrant, Benjamin K.; Soares-Furtado, Melinda; Vanderburg, Andrew; Jankowski, Alyssa; Mann, Andrew W.; Ross, Gabrielle; Srdoc, Gregor; Hinkel, Natalie R.; Becker, Juliette; Magliano, Christian; et al (January 2024, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract Young terrestrial worlds are critical test beds to constrain prevailing theories of planetary formation and evolution. We present the discovery of HD 63433 d—a nearby (22 pc), Earth-sized planet transiting a young Sun-like star (TOI-1726, HD 63433). HD 63433 d is the third planet detected in this multiplanet system. The kinematic, rotational, and abundance properties of the host star indicate that it belongs to the young (414 ± 23 Myr) Ursa Major moving group, whose membership we update using new data from the third data release of the Gaia mission and TESS. Our transit analysis of the TESS light curves indicates that HD 63433 d has a radius of 1.1R_⊕and closely orbits its host star with a period of 4.2 days. To date, HD 63433 d is the smallest confirmed exoplanet with an age less than 500 Myr, and the nearest young Earth-sized planet. Furthermore, the apparent brightness of the stellar host (V≃ 6.9 mag) makes this transiting multiplanet system favorable to further investigations, including spectroscopic follow-up to probe the atmospheric loss in a young Earth-sized world. 

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4. TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME). VI. An 11 Myr Giant Planet Transiting a Very-low-mass Star in Lower Centaurus Crux

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac511d  

   Mann, Andrew W.; Wood, Mackenna L.; Schmidt, Stephen P.; Barber, Madyson G.; Owen, James E.; Tofflemire, Benjamin M.; Newton, Elisabeth R.; Mamajek, Eric E.; Bush, Jonathan L.; Mace, Gregory N.; et al (March 2022, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract Mature super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are predicted to be ≃ Jovian radius when younger than 10 Myr. Thus, we expect to find 5–15 R ⊕ planets around young stars even if their older counterparts harbor none. We report the discovery and validation of TOI 1227b, a 0.85 ± 0.05 R J (9.5 R ⊕ ) planet transiting a very-low-mass star (0.170 ± 0.015 M ⊙ ) every 27.4 days. TOI 1227's kinematics and strong lithium absorption confirm that it is a member of a previously discovered subgroup in the Lower Centaurus Crux OB association, which we designate the Musca group. We derive an age of 11 ± 2 Myr for Musca, based on lithium, rotation, and the color–magnitude diagram of Musca members. The TESS data and ground-based follow-up show a deep (2.5%) transit. We use multiwavelength transit observations and radial velocities from the IGRINS spectrograph to validate the signal as planetary in nature, and we obtain an upper limit on the planet mass of ≃0.5 M J . Because such large planets are exceptionally rare around mature low-mass stars, we suggest that TOI 1227b is still contracting and will eventually turn into one of the more common <5 R ⊕ planets. 

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5. Searching for GEMS: TOI-7149 b, an Inflated Giant Planet Causing a 12% Transit of a Fully Convective M-dwarf

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adf6db  

   Kanodia, Shubham; Cañas, Caleb I; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Lin, Andrea SJ; Kobulnicky, Henry A; Karfs, Ian; Birkholz, Alexina; Monson, Andrew; Gupta, Arvind F; Everett, Mark; et al (September 2025, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract We describe the discovery and characterization of TOI-7149 b, a 0.705 ± 0.075M_J, 1.18 ± 0.045R_Jgas giant on a ∼2.65 days period orbit transiting an M4V star with a mass of 0.344 ± 0.030M_⊙and an effective temperature of 3363 ± 59 K. The planet was first discovered using NASA’s TESS mission, which we confirmed using a combination of ground-based photometry, radial velocities, and speckle imaging. The planet has one of the deepest transits of all known main-sequence planet hosts at ∼12% (R_p/R_⋆∼ 0.33). Pushing the bounds of previous discoveries of giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars (GEMS), TOI-7149 is one of the lowest mass M-dwarfs to host a transiting giant planet. We compare the sample of transiting GEMS to stars within 200 pc with a Gaia color–magnitude diagram and find that the GEMS hosts are likely to be high metallicity stars. We also analyze the sample of transiting giant planets using the nonparametricMRExoframework to compare the bulk density of warm Jupiters across stellar masses. We confirm our previous result that transiting Jupiters around early M-dwarfs have similar masses and densities to warm Jupiters around FGK stars, and extend this to mid M-dwarfs, thereby suggesting a potential commonality in their formation mechanisms. 

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