A temperate Earth-sized planet with tidal heating transiting an M6 star

Merrin S Peterson¹, Björn Benneke², Karen Collins³, Caroline Piaulet¹, Ian J M Crossfield⁴, Mohamad Ali-Dib^{1

5}, Jessie L Christiansen⁶, Jonathan Gagné⁷, Jackie Faherty⁸, Edwin Kite⁹, Courtney Dressing¹⁰, David Charbonneau³, Felipe Murgas¹¹, Marion Cointepas¹², Jose Manuel Almenara¹², Xavier Bonfils¹², Stephen Kane¹³, Michael W Werner¹⁴, Varoujan Gorjian¹⁴, Pierre-Alexis Roy¹, Avi Shporer¹⁵, Francisco J Pozuelos^{16

17}, Quentin Jay Socia¹⁸, Ryan Cloutier^{3

19}, Jamie Dietrich¹⁸, Jonathan Irwin³, Lauren Weiss²⁰, William Waalkes²¹, Zach Berta-Thomson²¹, Thomas Evans¹⁵, Daniel Apai^{18

22}, Hannu Parviainen¹¹, Enric Pallé¹¹, Norio Narita^{11

23

24}, Andrew W Howard²⁵, Diana Dragomir²⁶, Khalid Barkaoui^{17

27}, Michaël Gillon¹⁷, Emmanuel Jehin²⁸, Elsa Ducrot¹⁷, Zouhair Benkhaldoun²⁷, Akihiko Fukui^{11

23}, Mayuko Mori²⁹, Taku Nishiumi^{24

30

31}, Kiyoe Kawauchi^{11

31}, George Ricker¹⁵, David W Latham³, Joshua N Winn³², Sara Seager^{15

33

34}, Howard Isaacson¹⁰, Alex Bixel¹⁸, Aidan Gibbs³⁵, Jon M Jenkins³⁶, Jeffrey C Smith³⁷, Jose Perez Chavez³⁸, Benjamin V Rackham¹⁵, Thomas Henning³⁹, Paul Gabor⁴⁰, Wen-Ping Chen⁴¹, Nestor Espinoza⁴², Eric L N Jensen⁴³, Kevin I Collins⁴⁴, Richard P Schwarz³, Dennis M Conti⁴⁵, Gavin Wang⁴⁶, John F Kielkopf⁴⁷, Shude Mao⁴⁸, Keith Horne⁴⁹, Ramotholo Sefako⁵⁰, Samuel N Quinn³, Dan Moldovan⁵¹, Michael Fausnaugh¹⁵, Gábor Fűűrész¹⁵, Thomas Barclay^{52

53}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² Department of Physics and Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. bjorn.benneke@umontreal.ca.
³ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
⁵ Center for Astro, Particle and Planetary Physics (CAP3), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Planetarium of Rio Tinto Alcan and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, University of Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ American Museum for National History, New York, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of the Geological Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of California - Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹¹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain.
¹² Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
¹³ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physics and Kavli Institute of Astronomy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomía s, Granada, Spain.
¹⁷ Astrobiology Research Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
¹⁸ Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Ontario, Hamilton, Canada.
²⁰ University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA.
²¹ Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
²² Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
²³ Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁴ Astrobiology Center, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁵ Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
²⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
²⁷ Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco.
²⁸ Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR), Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
²⁹ Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduated University for Advanced Studies, Sokendai, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
³¹ Department of Multi-Disciplinary Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
³² Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
³³ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³⁴ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³⁵ Department of Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³⁶ NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, USA.
³⁷ The SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA.
³⁸ Texas State University, Department of Physics, San Marcos, TX, USA.
³⁹ Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁴⁰ Vatican Observatory Research Group, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁴¹ Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁴² Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA.
⁴⁴ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
⁴⁵ American Association of Variable Star Observers, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴⁶ Tsinghua International School, Beijing, China.
⁴⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
⁴⁸ National Astronomical Observatories of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴⁹ SUPA Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, Fife, UK.
⁵⁰ South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁵¹ Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA.
⁵² NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁵³ University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.

PMID: 37198481
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05934-8

A temperate Earth-sized planet with tidal heating transiting an M6 star

Merrin S Peterson et al. Nature. 2023 May.

. 2023 May;617(7962):701-705.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05934-8. Epub 2023 May 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² Department of Physics and Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. bjorn.benneke@umontreal.ca.
³ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
⁵ Center for Astro, Particle and Planetary Physics (CAP3), New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁷ Planetarium of Rio Tinto Alcan and Institute for Research on Exoplanets, University of Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ American Museum for National History, New York, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of the Geological Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of California - Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹¹ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain.
¹² Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, Grenoble, France.
¹³ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Physics and Kavli Institute of Astronomy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Institute of Astrophysics of Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomía s, Granada, Spain.
¹⁷ Astrobiology Research Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
¹⁸ Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Ontario, Hamilton, Canada.
²⁰ University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA.
²¹ Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
²² Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
²³ Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁴ Astrobiology Center, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁵ Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
²⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
²⁷ Oukaimeden Observatory, High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco.
²⁸ Space Sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR), Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
²⁹ Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduated University for Advanced Studies, Sokendai, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
³¹ Department of Multi-Disciplinary Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan.
³² Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
³³ Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³⁴ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³⁵ Department of Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³⁶ NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA, USA.
³⁷ The SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA.
³⁸ Texas State University, Department of Physics, San Marcos, TX, USA.
³⁹ Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany.
⁴⁰ Vatican Observatory Research Group, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁴¹ Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁴² Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁴³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA.
⁴⁴ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
⁴⁵ American Association of Variable Star Observers, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁴⁶ Tsinghua International School, Beijing, China.
⁴⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
⁴⁸ National Astronomical Observatories of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁴⁹ SUPA Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, Fife, UK.
⁵⁰ South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁵¹ Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA.
⁵² NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁵³ University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA.

PMID: 37198481
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05934-8

Abstract

Temperate Earth-sized exoplanets around late-M dwarfs offer a rare opportunity to explore under which conditions planets can develop hospitable climate conditions. The small stellar radius amplifies the atmospheric transit signature, making even compact secondary atmospheres dominated by N₂ or CO₂ amenable to characterization with existing instrumentation¹. Yet, despite large planet search efforts², detection of low-temperature Earth-sized planets around late-M dwarfs has remained rare and the TRAPPIST-1 system, a resonance chain of rocky planets with seemingly identical compositions, has not yet shown any evidence of volatiles in the system³. Here we report the discovery of a temperate Earth-sized planet orbiting the cool M6 dwarf LP 791-18. The newly discovered planet, LP 791-18d, has a radius of 1.03 ± 0.04 R_⊕ and an equilibrium temperature of 300-400 K, with the permanent night side plausibly allowing for water condensation. LP 791-18d is part of a coplanar system⁴ and provides a so-far unique opportunity to investigate a temperate exo-Earth in a system with a sub-Neptune that retained its gas or volatile envelope. On the basis of observations of transit timing variations, we find a mass of 7.1 ± 0.7 M_⊕ for the sub-Neptune LP 791-18c and a mass of [Formula: see text] for the exo-Earth LP 791-18d. The gravitational interaction with the sub-Neptune prevents the complete circularization of LP 791-18d's orbit, resulting in continued tidal heating of LP 791-18d's interior and probably strong volcanic activity at the surface^5,6.

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References

1. Gillon, M. et al. The TRAPPIST-1 JWST Community Initiative. Bull. AAS https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.afbf0205 (2020).
1. Gillon, M. Searching for red worlds. Nat. Astron. 2, 344–344 (2018). - DOI
1. Agol, E. et al. Refining the transit-timing and photometric analysis of TRAPPIST-1: masses, radii, densities, dynamics, and ephemerides. Planet. Sci. J. 2, 1 (2021). - DOI
1. Crossfield, I. J. M. et al. A super-Earth and sub-Neptune transiting the late-type M dwarf LP 791-18. Astrophys. J. 883, L16 (2019). - DOI
1. Spencer, J. R. et al. Io’s thermal emission from the Galileo photopolarimeter-radiometer. Science 288, 1198–1201 (2000). - PubMed - DOI

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A temperate Earth-sized planet with tidal heating transiting an M6 star

Affiliations

A temperate Earth-sized planet with tidal heating transiting an M6 star

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

References

Publication types

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LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources