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Abstract Most star clusters dissolve into the Galaxy over tens to hundreds of millions of years after they form. While recent Gaia studies have honed our view of cluster dispersal, the exact chronology of which star formation events begat which star cluster remnants remains unclear. This problem is acute after 100 Myr, when cluster remnants have spread over hundreds of parsecs and most age estimates for main-sequence stars are too imprecise to link the stars to their birth events. Here we develop a Bayesian framework that combines TESS stellar rotation rates with Gaia kinematics to identify diffuse remnants of open clusters. We apply our method to the Pleiades, which previous studies have noted shows kinematic similarities to other nearby young stellar groups. We find that the Pleiades constitutes the bound core of a much larger, coeval structure that contains multiple known clusters distributed over 600 pc. We refer to this structure as the Greater Pleiades Complex. On the basis of uniform ages, coherent space velocities, detailed elemental abundances, and traceback histories, we conclude that most stars in this complex originated from the same giant molecular cloud. This work establishes a scalable approach for tracing the genealogies of nearby clusters and further cements the Pleiades as a cornerstone of stellar astrophysics. We aim to apply this methodology to other associations as part of the upcoming TESS All-Sky Rotation Survey.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available November 12, 2026
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Abstract The discovery of young (<800 Myr) transiting planets has provided a new avenue to explore how planets form and evolve over their lifetimes. Mass measurements for these planets would be invaluable, but radial velocity surveys of young systems are often overwhelmed by stellar activity. Transit timing variations (TTVs) offer an alternative route to measure masses that are less impacted by signals from the host star. Here we search for candidate TTVs in a sample of 39 young systems hosting 53 transiting planets using data from Kepler, K2, and TESS. We recover previously reported TTVs for 11 planets, including those in V1298 Tau, TOI-2076, Kepler-51, and TOI-1227, and identify new candidate TTVs for four planets (DS Tuc Ab, HD 63433 b, K2-101 b, and Kepler-1643 b). In total, 28.3% ± 6.2% of the young planets in our sample show evidence of TTVs, which is higher than the rate from Kepler on mostly older systems (7.3% ± 0.6%). Accounting for differences in data coverage and quality between Kepler and TESS only increases this difference (>4σ), although differences in methodology make a totally fair comparison challenging. We show that spots have a weak-to-negligible impact on our results, and similarly cannot explain the higher TTV fraction. Longer-term monitoring will be required to validate these TTVs as planetary in nature and confirm the high TTV rate. While the candidate TTV signals detected here are sparsely sampled, our work provides a clear priority list for additional ground-based observations, and for multiplanet TTVs, to measure the masses and eccentricities of these planets.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available January 5, 2027
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The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has provided stellar rotation periods across much of the sky through high-precision light curves, but the reliability and completeness of these measurements require careful evaluation. We assess the accuracy of TESS-derived rotation periods by leveraging a cross-matched sample of ∼23,000 stars observed by both TESS and the K2 mission, treating K2 periods as a benchmark. Using causal pixel models to extract light curves and a Lomb–Scargle (LS) periodogram to identify rotation signals, we quantify the empirical uncertainties, reliability, and completeness of TESS rotation period measurements. We find that uncertainties on TESS-derived rotation periods are typically below 3% for stars with periods <10 days. Rotation periods are generally reliable out to 10 days, with ≳80% of measurements matching the K2 benchmark. Completeness and reliability drop dramatically for periods beyond ≃12 days due to the 27 day sector limitation. Stricter cuts on TESS magnitude and LS power improve reliability; the highest LS power tested (>0.2) ensures >90% reliability below 10 days but removes over half of potential detections. Stitching consecutive-sector light curves reduces period uncertainties but does not improve overall reliability or completeness due to persistent systematics. Our findings and code provide a framework for interpreting TESS-derived rotation periods and inform the selection of quality cuts to optimize studies of stellar rotation, young associations, and gyrochronology.more » « less
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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.more » « less
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Astronomers have found more than a dozen planets transiting stars that are 10–40 million years old1, but younger transiting planets have remained elusive. The lack of such discoveries may be because planets have not fully formed at this age or because our view is blocked by the protoplanetary disk. However, we now know that many outer disks are warped or broken2; provided the inner disk is depleted, transiting planets may thus be visible. Here we report observations of the transiting planet IRAS 04125+2902 b orbiting a 3-million-year-old, 0.7-solar-mass, pre-main-sequence star in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. The host star harbours a nearly face-on (30 degrees inclination) transitional disk3 and a wide binary companion. The planet has a period of 8.83 days, a radius of 10.7 Earth radii (0.96 Jupiter radii) and a 95%-confidence upper limit on its mass of 90 Earth masses (0.3 Jupiter masses) from radial-velocity measurements, making it a possible precursor of the super-Earths and sub-Neptunes frequently found around main-sequence stars. The rotational broadening of the star and the orbit of the wide (4 arcseconds, 635 astronomical units) companion are both consistent with edge-on orientations. Thus, all components of the system are consistent with alignment except the outer disk; the origin of this misalignment is unclear.more » « less
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Abstract Exoplanet discoveries have revealed a dramatic diversity of planet sizes across a vast array of orbital architectures. Sub-Neptunes are of particular interest; due to their absence in our own solar system, we rely on demographics of exoplanets to better understand their bulk composition and formation scenarios. Here, we present the discovery and characterization of TOI-1437 b, a sub-Neptune with a 18.84 day orbit around a near-solar analog (M⋆= 1.10 ± 0.10M☉,R⋆=1.17 ± 0.12R☉). The planet was detected using photometric data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission and radial velocity (RV) follow-up observations were carried out as a part of the TESS-Keck Survey using both the HIRES instrument at Keck Observatory and the Levy Spectrograph on the Automated Planet Finder telescope. A combined analysis of these data reveal a planet radius ofRp= 2.24 ± 0.23R⊕and a mass measurement ofMp= 9.6 ± 3.9M⊕). TOI-1437 b is one of few (∼50) known transiting sub-Neptunes orbiting a solar-mass star that has a RV mass measurement. As the formation pathway of these worlds remains an unanswered question, the precise mass characterization of TOI-1437 b may provide further insight into this class of planet.more » « less
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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.more » « less
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