Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We report the discovery and validation of TIC 88297141 Ab, a transiting planet orbiting a pre-main-sequence M dwarf (0.31 solar masses, 0.74 solar radii) in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. Group membership implies an age of $15.6 \pm 1.6$ Myr, supported by lithium and isochrone age-dating. We detected the TESS transits using a custom pipeline designed for variable stars and used ground-based photometry (LCO/Swope and LCOGT/Sinistro) to confirm the on-target nature of the signal. Our global fit of the transits and stellar activity gives an orbital period of 4.64 days and a planet radius of $7.21 \pm 0.32$ Earth radii (0.64 Jupiter radii). The star has a comoving M-dwarf companion (0.4 solar radii) at a projected separation of $260$ au; speckle imaging (Gemini-S/Zorro) reveals no additional stellar companions, and radial velocities from Magellan/PFS are consistent with stellar activity, giving $M_p \sin i < 4.7$ Jupiter masses at $2σ$. A statistical validation analysis yields a false positive probability of $10^{-5}$, validating the planet. A mass measurement will determine whether TIC 88297141 Ab is a low-density super-puff, like other comparably sized planets at these ages, or an unusually massive planet for its radius.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Kathuria, Gurmeher, Bouma, Luke G., Boyle, Andrew W., Arevalo, Roberto Tejada, Mann, Andrew W., Morrell, Nidia, Collins, Karen A., Butler, R. Paul, Shectman, Stephen A., Teske, Johanna, Crane, Jeffrey D., Vissapragada, Shreyas, Mckenzie, Madeleine, Barkaoui, Khalid, Narita, Norio, Fukui, Akihiko, De Leon, Jerome P., Suganuma, Toshi, Barber, Madyson G., Wilkin, Francis P., Zaledonis, Victoria, Garcia-Gallet, Sophia, Hizmo, Glauk, Howell, Steve B., Ciardi, David R., Littlefield, Colin, Deveny, Sarah, Caldwell, Douglas A.
Institutions: University of California, Los Angeles, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Observatories, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Las Campanas Observatory, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, The University of Tokyo, Union College, Ames Research Center, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7215082178