TOI-2266 b: A keystone super-Earth at the edge of the M dwarf radius valley
Journal article, 2024

We validate the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) object of interest TOI-2266.01 (TIC 8348911) as a small transiting planet (most likely a super-Earth) orbiting a faint M5 dwarf (V = 16.54) on a 2.33 d orbit. The validation is based on an approach where multicolour transit light curves are used to robustly estimate the upper limit of the transiting object's radius. Our analysis uses SPOC-pipeline TESS light curves from Sectors 24, 25, 51, and 52, simultaneous multicolour transit photometry observed with MuSCAT2, MuSCAT3' and HiPERCAM, and additional transit photometry observed with the LCOGT telescopes. TOI-2266 b is found to be a planet with a radius of 1.54 ± 0.09 R, which locates it at the edge of the transition zone between rocky planets, water-rich planets, and sub-Neptunes (the so-called M dwarf radius valley). The planet is amenable to ground-based radial velocity mass measurement with red-sensitive spectrographs installed in large telescopes, such as MAROON-X and Keck Planet Finder (KPF), which makes it a valuable addition to a relatively small population of planets that can be used to probe the physics of the transition zone. Further, the planet's orbital period of 2.33 days places it inside a 'keystone planet'wedge in the period-radius plane where competing planet formation scenarios make conflicting predictions on how the radius valley depends on the orbital period. This makes the planet also a welcome addition to the small population of planets that can be used to test small-planet formation scenarios around M dwarfs.

Stars: individual: TIC 8348911

Methods: statistical

Planets and satellites: terrestrial planets

Techniques: photometric

Planets and satellites: general

Author

H. Parviainen

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

University of La Laguna

F. Murgas

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

University of La Laguna

E. Esparza-Borges

University of La Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

A. Peláez-Torres

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

University of La Laguna

Enric Palle

University of La Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

R. Luque

University of Chicago

M. Zapatero-Osorio

Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)

Judith Korth

Lund University

A. Fukui

University of Tokyo

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Norio Narita

University of Tokyo

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Karen A. Collins

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

V. J. S. Bejar

University of La Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Giuseppe Morello

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

M. Monelli

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

University of La Laguna

N. Abreu Garcia

University of La Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Guo Chen

Chinese Academy of Sciences

N. Crouzet

Leiden University

Jerome P. De Leon

University of Tokyo

K. Isogai

University of Tokyo

Kyoto University

T. Kagetani

University of Tokyo

Kiyoe Kawauchi

College of Life Sciences

P. Klagyivik

Freie Universität Berlin

T. Kodama

University of Tokyo

Nobuhiko Kusakabe

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

J.H. Livingston

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

P. Meni

University of La Laguna

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Mayuko Mori

University of Tokyo

G. Nowak

University of La Laguna

Nicolaus Copernicus University

Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

M. Tamura

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

University of Tokyo

National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Y. Terada

National Taiwan University

Academia Sinica

Noriharu Watanabe

University of Tokyo

D. R. Ciardi

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

M. B. Lund

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Jessie L. Christiansen

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Courtney D. Dressing

University of California

S. Giacalone

University of California

A. B. Savel

University of Maryland

L. Hirsch

Stanford University

S. G. Parsons

University of Sheffield

P. Brown

Vanderbilt University

K. I. Collins

George Mason University

Khalid Barkaoui

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

University of La Laguna

University of Liège

M. Timmermans

University of Liège

M. Ghachoui

Faculté des Sciences Semlalia

University of Liège

A. Soubkiou

Faculté des Sciences Semlalia

University of Porto

Z. Benkhaldoun

Faculté des Sciences Semlalia

S. McDermott

Protologic LLC

T. Pritchard

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Pamela Rowden

Royal Astronomical Society

S. Striegel

SETI Institute

Tianjun Gan

Tsinghua University

K. Horne

University of St Andrews

E. L.N. Jensen

Swarthmore College

R. Schwarz

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Avi Shporer

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

G. Srdoc

Kotizarovci Observatory

S. Seager

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

J. N. Winn

Princeton University

Jon M. Jenkins

SETI Institute

George R. Ricker

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Roland K. Vanderspek

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

D. Dragomir

University of New Mexico

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 683 A170

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/202347431

More information

Latest update

3/9/2025 1