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  1. 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 1.1Rand 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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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available January 10, 2025
  2. ABSTRACT

    In this work, we present the discovery and confirmation of two hot Jupiters orbiting red giant stars, TOI-4377 b and TOI-4551 b, observed by Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite in the Southern ecliptic hemisphere and later followed-up with radial-velocity (RV) observations. For TOI-4377 b, we report a mass of $0.957^{+0.089}_{-0.087} \ M_\mathrm{J}$ and a inflated radius of 1.348 ± 0.081 RJ orbiting an evolved intermediate-mass star (1.36 M⊙ and 3.52 R⊙; TIC 394918211) on a period of of 4.378 d. For TOI-4551 b, we report a mass of 1.49 ± 0.13 MJ and a radius that is not obviously inflated of $1.058^{+0.110}_{-0.062} \ R_\mathrm{J}$, also orbiting an evolved intermediate-mass star (1.31 M⊙ and 3.55 R⊙; TIC 204650483) on a period of 9.956 d. We place both planets in context of known systems with hot Jupiters orbiting evolved hosts, and note that both planets follow the observed trend of the known stellar incident flux-planetary radius relation observed for these short-period giants. Additionally, we produce planetary interior models to estimate the heating efficiency with which stellar incident flux is deposited in the planet’s interior, estimating values of $1.91 \pm 0.48~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $2.19 \pm 0.45~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for TOI-4377 b and TOI-4551 b, respectively. These values are in line with the known population of hot Jupiters, including hot Jupiters orbiting main-sequence hosts, which suggests that the radii of our planets have re-inflated in step with their parent star’s brightening as they evolved into the post-main sequence. Finally, we evaluate the potential to observe orbital decay in both systems.

     
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  3. Abstract We report the discovery of HIP-97166b (TOI-1255b), a transiting sub-Neptune on a 10.3 day orbit around a K0 dwarf 68 pc from Earth. This planet was identified in a systematic search of TESS Objects of Interest for planets with eccentric orbits, based on a mismatch between the observed transit duration and the expected duration for a circular orbit. We confirmed the planetary nature of HIP-97166b with ground-based radial-velocity measurements and measured a mass of M b = 20 ± 2 M ⊕ along with a radius of R b = 2.7 ± 0.1 R ⊕ from photometry. We detected an additional nontransiting planetary companion with M c sin i = 10 ± 2 M ⊕ on a 16.8 day orbit. While the short transit duration of the inner planet initially suggested a high eccentricity, a joint RV-photometry analysis revealed a high impact parameter b = 0.84 ± 0.03 and a moderate eccentricity. Modeling the dynamics with the condition that the system remain stable over >10 5 orbits yielded eccentricity constraints e b = 0.16 ± 0.03 and e c < 0.25. The eccentricity we find for planet b is above average for the small population of sub-Neptunes with well-measured eccentricities. We explored the plausible formation pathways of this system, proposing an early instability and merger event to explain the high density of the inner planet at 5.3 ± 0.9 g cc −1 as well as its moderate eccentricity and proximity to a 5:3 mean-motion resonance. 
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  4. ABSTRACT We present the discovery and characterization of six short-period, transiting giant planets from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) -- TOI-1811 (TIC 376524552), TOI-2025 (TIC 394050135), TOI-2145 (TIC 88992642), TOI-2152 (TIC 395393265), TOI-2154 (TIC 428787891), and TOI-2497 (TIC 97568467). All six planets orbit bright host stars (8.9 <G < 11.8, 7.7 <K < 10.1). Using a combination of time-series photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations from the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group, we have determined that the planets are Jovian-sized (RP  = 0.99--1.45 RJ), have masses ranging from 0.92 to 5.26 MJ, and orbit F, G, and K stars (4766 ≤ Teff ≤ 7360 K). We detect a significant orbital eccentricity for the three longest-period systems in our sample: TOI-2025 b (P  = 8.872 d, 0.394$^{+0.035}_{-0.038}$), TOI-2145 b (P  = 10.261 d, e  = $0.208^{+0.034}_{-0.047}$), and TOI-2497 b (P  = 10.656 d, e  = $0.195^{+0.043}_{-0.040}$). TOI-2145 b and TOI-2497 b both orbit subgiant host stars (3.8 < log  g <4.0), but these planets show no sign of inflation despite very high levels of irradiation. The lack of inflation may be explained by the high mass of the planets; $5.26^{+0.38}_{-0.37}$ MJ (TOI-2145 b) and 4.82 ± 0.41 MJ (TOI-2497 b). These six new discoveries contribute to the larger community effort to use TESS to create a magnitude-complete, self-consistent sample of giant planets with well-determined parameters for future detailed studies. 
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  6. Abstract

    We present an analysis of the first 20 second cadence light curves obtained by the TESS space telescope during its extended mission. We find improved precision of 20 second data compared to 2 minute data for bright stars when binned to the same cadence (≈10%–25% better forT≲ 8 mag, reaching equal precision atT≈ 13 mag), consistent with pre-flight expectations based on differences in cosmic-ray mitigation algorithms. We present two results enabled by this improvement. First, we use 20 second data to detect oscillations in three solar analogs (γPav,ζTuc, andπMen) and use asteroseismology to measure their radii, masses, densities, and ages to ≈1%, ≈3%, ≈1%, and ≈20% respectively, including systematic errors. Combining our asteroseismic ages with chromospheric activity measurements, we find evidence that the spread in the activity–age relation is linked to stellar mass and thus the depth of the convection zone. Second, we combine 20 second data and published radial velocities to recharacterizeπMen c, which is now the closest transiting exoplanet for which detailed asteroseismology of the host star is possible. We show thatπMen c is located at the upper edge of the planet radius valley for its orbital period, confirming that it has likely retained a volatile atmosphere and that the “asteroseismic radius valley” remains devoid of planets. Our analysis favors a low eccentricity forπMen c (<0.1 at 68% confidence), suggesting efficient tidal dissipation (Q/k2,1≲ 2400) if it formed via high-eccentricity migration. Combined, these early results demonstrate the strong potential of TESS 20 second cadence data for stellar astrophysics and exoplanet science.

     
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