arXiv subjects

Akihiko Fukui

Publications and source records attributed to Akihiko Fukui.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Conspicuous Gas, Cryptic Dust: Spectroscopy and Chromaticity of Complex Periodic Variables

Complex periodic variables (CPVs) are young low-mass stars whose light curves show periodic dips indicative of transiting corotating material. The origin and composition of this material are unclear. Here we present new optical and near-infrared spectroscopy and photometry of four CPVs from Magellan, Keck, Hale, MuSCAT1, MuSCAT2, Tierras, KeplerCam, and TESS. The spectra imply that CPVs host magnetically bound circumstellar plasma clumps, on the basis of sinusoidal-in-time Balmer emission out of transit, and Balmer dimming during transit. Yet large night-to-night changes in circumstellar hydrogen emissivity occur without clear changes in light curve morphology, suggesting that the sharp flux dips are caused not by circumstellar plasma but by dust. Optical chromaticities (depth proportional to $λ^{-β}$, with $β$ = 0.79 $\pm$ 0.16) support this, but the power law breaks in the near-infrared, where a single power law under-predicts the depths observed at 2.1 microns. We therefore favor dips caused by dusty plasma clumps with opaque cores and optically thin halos, though we cannot rule out models in which the dust properties vary per-star or per-epoch. Observations at wavelengths greater than 2 microns and less than 0.4 microns would test this interpretation and clarify the dust's origin.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2026

Assessing the Impact of High-Resolution Imaging on Statistical Validation of TESS Planet Candidates

High-resolution imaging is widely used to constrain false-positive scenarios in exoplanet validation, but it is a finite follow-up resource that reaches only a subset of candidates, and its population-level impact on validation outcomes has not been quantified through controlled removal experiments. Using an automated pipeline built on TRICERATOPS, we compute the false-positive probability (FPP) of 443 TESS planet candidates. For the 264 planet candidates with high-resolution imaging observations, we compute FPP with and without the corresponding contrast curves, allowing us to quantify the impact of the additional data. We find that 72% of 68 contrast-curve bearing validated planets would fail validation without their adopted contrast curves. The fraction requiring imaging decreases with increasing planet size, from 100% below $1.7~R_\oplus$ to $33\%$ above $4~R_\oplus$: within our sample and TRICERATOPS-based analysis, the availability of high-resolution imaging directly limits the yield of small-planet validation and the supply of validated targets for atmospheric characterization. Our analysis statistically validates 64 new TESS planets with sizes spanning 0.94 to 7.83 $R_\oplus$ across hosts of spectral type M through F. Four of these are highly amenable to JWST observations based on the transmission and emission spectroscopy metrics, and each achieves validation only with its imaging constraint.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

A Search for helium in the atmospheres of three sub-Neptunes and a super-Earth around M-dwarfs

Thousands of sub-Neptunes have been discovered mainly through space-based surveys such as Kepler and TESS. Their bulk compositions and internal structures are thought to reflect their formation and evolutionary pathways, and atmospheric observations provide constraints on these processes. The near-infrared helium triplet is a potential tracer of extended, escaping H/He atmospheres. Recent models that include geometric effects suggest that planets orbiting nearby late M dwarfs may offer favorable conditions for detecting this signal. Nevertheless, helium has been reported for only three planets around M dwarfs to date. We conducted high-resolution transmission spectroscopy of three sub-Neptunes (TOI-2136b, TOI-654b, and LP 791-18c) and a super-Earth (TOI-1634b) orbiting M dwarfs with the InfraRed Doppler (IRD) spectrograph on the Subaru Telescope. We find no statistically significant helium absorption in any target; accordingly, we derive 95% confidence upper limits on the helium line depth of 1.36%, 0.60%, 2.07%, and 3.00%, and on the equivalent width of 7.3, 2.1, 7.4, and 9.1 mÅ, for TOI-2136b, TOI-1634b, TOI-654b, and LP 791-18c, respectively. We further explored constraints on the upper-atmospheric temperature and mass-loss rate by comparing these results with isothermal Parker-wind models. While we have compared with self-consistent ATES models of primordial H/He atmospheres spanning a range of assumed X-ray luminosities, changes in the assumed XUV flux do not appear to account for the non-detections. The results suggest that these planets have metal-enriched H/He primary atmospheres or non-primordial atmospheres, such as water-rich envelopes. Future observations of other absorption lines, such as Lyman-$α$, H-$α$, and H$_2$O, may provide further constraints on these atmospheres.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Discovery of an Eccentric Hot Super-Jupiter Leaving the Transiting Geometry of the Early-A-type star TOI-1355

Hot Jupiters orbiting hot stars ($T_\mathrm{eff} > 7000$ K) are suggested to have experienced high-eccentricity migration, often evidenced by the tendency for misaligned orbits, despite their circular orbits. In this paper, we present the discovery of TOI-1355 b: an eccentric ($e\sim0.22$) hot Jupiter with a mass of $m_{\mathrm{p}}\sim5.8M_J$ and a radius of $R_{\mathrm{p}}\sim 1.4R_J$ orbiting an A-type star with a period of about $2.17$ days, identified from the TESS transit survey and subsequent follow-up observations. We measured the stellar parameters using the data from the high-resolution spectrograph Seimei/GAOES-RV and obtained the planetary parameters from the photometric data acquired by TESS and ground-based telescopes. This is one of the rare eccentric hot Jupiters around hot stars. This system could be undergoing high-eccentricity migration. We detected nodal precession by measuring the change in its impact parameter. This implies that its transit will no longer be observable from the middle of 2033. Nevertheless, TOI-1355 b is anticipated to be a compelling target for future atmospheric observations, given the hint of atmospheric variability detected in this study.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

A Pair of Warm Saturn-mass Planets near the 2:1 Mean Motion Resonance around TOI-3850

Warm Jupiters, with orbital periods of $10$--$200~\rm{days}$ and radii exceeding $8~R_{\oplus}$, are a relatively understudied class of exoplanets occupying the parameter space between hot Jupiters and more widely separated, colder Jupiter analogs. In this work, we report the detection of a multi-planet warm Jupiter system around TOI-3850 (TIC-143008050), a moderately active, near-solar metallicity G0 dwarf star observed by TESS in Sectors 15, 21, 41, 48 and 75. Initially, a single candidate planet was discovered by TESS, displaying transit timing variations (TTVs) with an amplitude of $\sim 1~\rm hr$ and a super-period of $513~\rm days$. Through a combination of transit photometry, radial velocity observations with MAROON-X, and TTV modeling, we identify two planets: TOI-3850 b $(P_b=14.484\pm0.002~\mathrm{days},~ M_b =112\pm20~M_{\oplus},~e_b = 0.018\pm0.008, R_b = 12.07\pm0.09~R_{\oplus}, ~T_{\rm{eq}}=841\pm10~\rm{K})$, a transiting warm Jupiter, and TOI-3850 c $(P_c=29.85\pm0.01~\mathrm{days},~ M_c =90\pm15~M_{\oplus},~e_c < 0.015, ~T_{\rm{eq}}=661\pm7~\rm{K})$, a non-transiting, Saturn-mass companion. The two planets lie wide of the 2:1 mean motion resonance $(P_c/P_b \approx 2.06)$, consistent with a formation history involving disk-driven migration. $N$-body integrations indicate that TOI-3850 c may begin to transit on decadal timescales, while TOI-3850 b remains a promising target for follow-up atmospheric characterization.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

TOI-2147 b and TOI-6019 b: Two eccentric warm Jupiters detected and characterized with TESS and MaHPS

The population of Jupiter-sized exoplanets with orbital periods between 10 and 200 days (WJs) exhibits a broad range of orbital eccentricities and system architectures, suggesting a diversity of formation and migration pathways. In this work, we report the detection and characterization of two new eccentric WJs, TOI-2147 b and TOI-6019 b, initially identified as planet candidates by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We combined TESS photometry with ground-based follow-up observations, including multiband photometry from LCOGT and MuSCAT2, high-angular-resolution speckle imaging, and high-precision radial velocity measurements from the high-resolution Manfred Hirt Planet Finder Spectrograph (MaHPS). Using these data, we were able to confirm the planetary nature of both candidates. TOI-2147 b has a radius of $10.5 \pm 0.3\,\mathrm{R}_\oplus$ and a mass of $116 \pm 22\,\mathrm{M}_\oplus$. It orbits its slightly metal-poor ($\mathrm{[Fe/H]} = -0.29^{+0.07}_{-0.08}$) G-type host star on an eccentric orbit ($e = 0.29 \pm 0.07$) with a period of 26.2 days. TOI-6019 b has a radius of $12.3 \pm 0.3\,\mathrm{R}_\oplus$ and a mass of $149 \pm 15\,\mathrm{M}_\oplus$. It orbits a slightly evolved, solar-metallicity G-type sub-giant with a period of 14.5 days on a significantly eccentric orbit ($e = 0.48^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$). Both planets have bulk densities below that of Jupiter, indicating mildly inflated radii, with interior structure modeling using GASTLI. This suggests that tidal heating from the nonzero eccentricities likely contributes to this inflation and disfavors large atmospheric metal enrichment. No significant signals from additional companions were detected in the radial velocity time series or transit timing variations. Together with the elevated eccentricities, this is consistent with a high-eccentricity migration origin for both systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

The Orbital Eccentricity--Radius Distribution for Warm, Single Planets in TESS

We characterize the radius-dependent eccentricity distribution of 219 warm (P = 8--50 days) systems with only one transiting planetary candidate identified during Sectors 1-69 of the TESS mission. Using the ``photoeccentric effect'' in a hierarchical Bayesian framework, we first model the population using discrete planetary size bins (sub-Neptunes, sub-Saturns, and Jovians). We then develop a continuous mixture model with weights governed by a logistic sigmoid function of radius. We find that the warm-single population is best described by two components: a dominant low-eccentricity mode ( = 0.039-0.038+0.018) and a secondary dynamically excited mode ( = 0.466-0.068+0.067). The fraction of planets belonging to this high-eccentricity component increases strongly with planet radius, characterized by a transition at a break radius of R_br = 9.2-1.1+1.9 R_e. This trend places warm sub-Saturns predominantly on the same low-eccentricity track as sub-Neptunes. In contrast, warm Jovians (8--16 R_e) are frequently eccentric, with 65-12+13% of the population in the high eccentricity mode. Under the assumption of a two-component model, we see tentative evidence for a bimodal Jovian distribution at ~2.7 sigma. Finally, we identify a non-negligible tail of highly eccentric sub-Neptunes (1--4 R_e), which comprise 16.2-6.4+5.2% of the population, consistent with excitation by non-transiting external companions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

The Occurrence Rate of Nearby Planetary Companions to Hot Jupiters

Of the > 500 confirmed transiting hot jupiters and approximately 2000 additional candidates today, only ten are known to have nearby companion planets. The survival of nearby companions means that these hot jupiters cannot have migrated to their present location via dynamically disruptive high-eccentricity migration but instead have undergone disk migration or formed in situ. The occurrence rate for these nearby companions, therefore, constrains the relative efficiency of different hot jupiter formation pathways. Here, we perform a uniform box least-squares search for nearby transiting companions to hot jupiters in the first five years of TESS data. Accounting for observational completeness and detection efficiency, we arrive at an occurrence rate of $(7.6^{+5.5}_{-3.8})\%$, which is a lower limit on the fraction of hot jupiters that underwent disk migration or in situ formation. Comparing this rate with that derived from transit-timing variation searches suggests that hot jupiters are likely mostly aligned with their nearby companions, but their apparently higher incidence of grazing transits may point to a slight preferential misalignment. We also synthesize evidence that hot jupiters with nearby companions may have cold companions at a rate similar to that of other hot jupiters. Comprehensive transit, radial velocity, and stellar obliquity measurements in hot jupiter systems with nearby companions will be necessary to fully account for the relative prevalence of proposed hot jupiter formation pathways.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Parameter estimation from the transit light curve including gravitational lensing effects

We study transit light curves of exoplanets, incorporating gravitational lensing effects, and explore the possibility of estimating planetary masses using only the transit light curve. We analyze existing data for planets with relatively large orbital distances ($>1$ AU) from Kepler and TESS to evaluate how well their masses can be constrained. For six exoplanets, we derive 2$σ$ upper limits of 200-2000 Jupiter masses. We also construct mock data to assess the feasibility of determining masses for exoplanets with larger orbital radii than currently known. Our results show that a precision of $3\times 10^{-6}$ is required to recover the true masses of planets with 10 (5) Jupiter masses at orbital radii of $a=20$ (100) AU. Furthermore, we demonstrate that neglecting gravitational effects can lead to underestimation of exoplanet radii, particularly for planets with large orbital separations. Using mock data with a precision of $2\times 10^{-4}$, assuming a 30 minutes cadence with Kepler for a $K_p=14$ mag star, we find that the estimated radii can be underestimated by 1-20% for 5 and 10 Jupiter-mass planets with $a=$ 10-100 AU. These results highlight the importance of including microlensing effects when modeling transit light curves of wide-orbit planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Stellar Multiplicity of M Dwarfs with Short-period Giant Planets, and the Characterization of TOI-5628Ab

Binary stars are ubiquitous, yet it remains unclear how wide-orbit stellar companions influence the formation of hot Jupiters, particularly around M dwarfs. Here, we first report the discovery of TOI-5628Ab, a giant planet transiting a mid-type M dwarf ($M_\ast=0.36\pm0.02\ M_\odot$) every 4.34 days, accompanied by an associated white dwarf TOI-5628B ($M_{\rm WD}=0.59\pm0.16\ M_\odot$) at a projected distance of about 2,500 AU. Using TESS, ground-based photometry and SPIRou RVs, we constrain the planet radius to $0.74\pm0.04\ R_J$ and mass to $0.09\pm0.04\ M_J$, with a $3σ$ upper limit of $0.22\ M_J$. Building on this system, we further conduct a homogeneous systematic search for co-moving stellar companions with projected semi-major axis between 100 and 10,000 AU around all M dwarfs with confirmed giant planets with periods smaller than 10 days and radii larger than 0.7 $R_J$, as well as a group of field M stars with stellar properties similar to the planet sample, based on the stellar kinematics from Gaia DR3. We measure a stellar multiplicity of $34.2\pm9.5\%$ for M dwarfs hosting short-period giant planets, which is substantially higher than the fraction of $5.3\pm3.7\%$ for the field M stars by approximately a factor of 6. Our results suggest that wide-orbit stellar companions tend to promote the formation of short-period giant planets around M stars with masses $0.21 \leq M_\ast\leq 0.64\ M_\odot$, and high-eccentricity migration may play an important role in producing such systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

TOI-6884b: A low-mass brown dwarf transiting a slightly evolved star

We report the discovery of a low-mass transiting brown dwarf orbiting TOI-6884 (TIC~156514476, $T_{\rm mag}=11.4$) from NASA's \textit{Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite} (\textit{TESS}) mission. The \textit{TESS} light curves initially suggested an orbital period of $\sim$14.42~days; however, our high-precision ground-based radial velocity measurements and multi-epoch time-series photometry reveal this to be a harmonic alias. We determine the true orbital period to be $4.808264^{+0.000015}_{-0.000014}$~days and confirm the substellar nature of the companion. TOI-6884b has a mass of $26.32^{+0.98}_{-0.93}\,M_{\mathrm{J}}$, a radius of $0.927^{+0.51}_{-0.52}\,R_{\mathrm{J}}$, and resides on a nearly circular orbit ($e=0.067^{+0.010}_{-0.012}$). Its host star is a late F-type slightly evolved star with $M_\star = 1.410^{+0.075}_{-0.069}\,M_\odot$,\msun, $R_\star = 1.840^{+0.072}_{-0.073}\,R_\odot$, $\log{g} = 4.057^{+0.045}_{-0.039}$, $[{\rm Fe/H}] = 0.094^{+0.073}_{-0.068}$~dex, and $T_{\rm eff}=6330^{+180}_{-160}$,\mathrm{K}$. TOI-6884b is a key addition to the small population of well-characterized transiting brown dwarfs orbiting host stars that have evolved off the main sequence. The detection of such systems will contribute to our understanding of the dynamical histories and structural evolution of short-period substellar companions around evolved stars.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Observing a 542-day transiting giant with large TTVs: The 2025 transit of HIP 41378 f and new constraints on the outer system

Characterizing long-period transiting exoplanets is inherently challenging due to the rarity and long duration of transit events. Yet, these systems provide unique insights into planetary formation, migration, the detection of exomoons, and primordial atmospheres by occupying a sparsely populated region of the exoplanet parameter space. The complexity increases further for long-period planets near mean-motion resonances, where transit timing variations (TTVs) can reach amplitudes of several hours to days. We present a coordinated space- and ground-based observing campaign, using photometry from NEOSSat, multiple LCOGT sites, MuSCAT, MuSCAT3, Tierras and NGTS, to capture the 19-hour transit of the long-period giant exoplanet HIP 41378 f ($P$ = 542 d, $R$ = 9.5 $R_{\oplus}$) on 31 October 2025. Our transit analysis constrains the time of inferior conjunction to $T_{\mathrm{C}} = 2460980.888 \pm 0.029~\mathrm{BJD_{TDB}}$, occurring $\sim 7$ hours earlier than predicted from its linear ephemeris. This significant offset is consistent with the previously reported TTVs of HIP 41378 f, making it the longest-period exoplanet known to exhibit measurable TTVs. By combining this new precise measurement to the transit timings of the two outer planets in the system (HIP 41378 d and HIP 41378 e), we perform a dynamical modeling of the system, using the N-body integrator TRADES, refine the ephemeris of HIP 41378 f, and predict future transit events for all three outer transiting planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

TOI-7169 b: A Hot Jupiter Transiting a Metal-Poor Star

Most known planets are found around metal-rich host stars, which has made it difficult to determine whether a lower metallicity limit for planet formation exists and how the properties of planets born in low-metallicity environments may differ from those with metal-rich origins. We present the discovery and characterization of TOI-7169 b (TIC 372048733 b), a hot Jupiter that is orbiting a spectroscopically-confirmed metal-poor ([Fe/H] = -0.72 +/- 0.05) host star. Based on photometry from TESS and follow-up ground-based imaging, we measure an orbital period of 3.4373125 d and a planetary radius of 1.475 +/- 0.029 R_Jup. We use TRES spectroscopy to determine a mass for TOI-7169 b of 0.41 +/- 0.14 M_Jup. The planet is therefore inflated, with a low density of 0.159 +0.055/-0.054 g/cm^3. We also characterize the host star, showing that TOI-7169 is ancient (12.3 +/- 0.6 Gyr) and alpha-enhanced ([alpha/Fe] ~ 0.3), but with a Galactocentric orbit that is confined to the thin disk. TOI-7169 is perhaps the oldest and most metal-poor star currently known to host a transiting giant planet. Future transmission spectroscopy probing the atmosphere of TOI-7169 b may provide insight into the effect of metallicity on the physical properties of giant planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

The mass of TOI-1883 b: A low density super-Neptune in the ridge regime transiting an early-M dwarf

Recent large-scale transit surveys conducted by space telescopes such as Kepler and TESS have revealed a vast number of exoplanets, uncovering the diversity of their population. One of the remarkable findings is the presence of a deficiency region in the period-radius distribution of short-period (< 10 days) Neptune-sized planets (4-8 Earth radii). This region is classified into the Neptune desert (< 3.2 days), the ridge (3.2-5.7 days), and the savanna (> 5.7 days) based on orbital period, each likely reflecting distinct evolutionary pathways. In this study, we used the InfraRed Doppler (IRD) instrument on the Subaru Telescope to determine the mass of the super-Neptune TOI-1883 b, which resides in the ridge region (P ~ 4.51 days) orbiting an M dwarf. We measured a planetary mass of Mp = 13.7 +6.8/-6.5 Earth masses and a mean density of 0.4 +0.3/-0.2 g cm^-3, with 3-sigma upper limits of 34.1 Earth masses, and 5-sigma upper limits of 47.7 Earth masses. These results suggest that TOI-1883 b is likely a low density super-Neptune. We also find that the boundary of the Neptune desert defined by planets orbiting FGK-type stars exhibits a similar distribution for planets around M-type stars. According to the population-based argument of Bourrier et al. (2025), this suggests that TOI-1883 b may have undergone disk-driven migration to reach its current orbit and experienced early atmospheric photoevaporation driven by strong stellar XUV irradiation. The derived planetary mass is comparable to or exceeds the conventional critical core mass. We suggest that the high metallicity of the host star ([Fe/H] = 0.32 +/- 0.18) may have suppressed the onset of runaway gas accretion. Furthermore, TOI-1883 b has a high Transmission Spectroscopy Metric (TSM > 140), making it an excellent target for future atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

The NUV transit of XO-3 b

Near-UV (NUV) measurements of exoplanet transits offer a means to probe atmospheric escape, cloud formation, and planetary magnetic fields. We examine a 2024 XMM-Newton Optical Monitor NUV observation of the transit of XO-3~b, a massive hot Jupiter on an eccentric orbit with a previously observed abnormally large NUV-absorbing atmosphere. We analyze this NUV data jointly with a concurrent ground-based optical observation and all TESS transit observations, and find a NUV transit depth of $R_{p,NUV}/R_{\star} = 0.1371^{+0.016}_{-0.019}$, which is 30-70% deeper than the optical transit. Although the optical transits do not show signs of transit timing variations, the transit center in the NUV is $22^{+13}_{-11}$ minutes late compared to the optical ephemeris. We investigate atmospheric escape as a potential explanation of the properties of this NUV transit by examining X-ray data from XMM-Newton, characterizing the X-ray luminosity of XO-3 for the first time and estimating an extremely small mass-loss rate of $\sim10^4$ g/s ($\sim10^{-19}$ M$_{\text{jup}}$/yr). Finally, we investigate the likelihood of an NUV-absorbent bow-shock by estimating the magnetic field of the planet. While such a mechanism is capable of producing NUV transit offsets on the order of tens of minutes, our analytic approximations predict an early rather than late transit, indicating a need for further magnetohydrodynamic simulations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Mass Production of 2023 KMTNet Microlensing Planets. II: Two Planets and A Brown Dwarf

To expand the homogeneous microlensing planetary sample of the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet), we investigate six planetary candidates identified by the AnomalyFinder search in the 2023 prime-field data, namely KMT-2023-BLG-1592, OGLE-2023-BLG-0766, KMT-2023-BLG-0332, KMT-2023-BLG-0486, KMT-2023-BLG-0792, and OGLE-2023-BLG-1043. Light-curve modeling indicates that the first two events have planetary mass ratios of $\log q \sim -3.0$ and $-2.6$, while the third exhibits a brown dwarf mass ratio of $\log q \sim -1.4$. The remaining three events show the well-known degeneracy between the binary-lens single-source (2L1S) and single-lens binary-source (1L2S) interpretations. A Bayesian analysis yields companion masses of about 0.6 and 1.2 Jupiter masses for the two planetary systems, likely orbiting beyond the snow lines of M- or K-dwarf hosts. A review of the KMTNet planetary sample shows that candidates discovered by AnomalyFinder are significantly more likely to exhibit the 2L1S/1L2S degeneracy, consistent with the tendency of AnomalyFinder to detect subtler planetary signals.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

Multicolour Validation of Two Temperate Mini-Neptunes Around M-dwarf Habitable Zones

For small planets orbiting within the habitable zones of their host stars, multicolour validation via photometric transit observations offers an efficient alternative to prioritize targets before intensive radial-velocity follow-up, thereby expanding the sample of habitable-zone exoplanets amenable for atmospheric characterisation. In this study, we validate two exceptional habitable-zone TESS candidates, orbiting around M-dwarfs, as genuine planets, precisely determining their transit and physical parameters. We perform Bayesian model comparison by jointly fitting multicolour light curves from TESS and ground-based follow-up, including observations with HiPERCAM at the 10.4-m GTC. Our approach uses wavelength-dependent transit depth variations and precise transit geometry to reject false positives. We validate TOI-2094 b and TOI-7166 b as two new benchmark temperate mini-Neptunes. TOI-2094 b (1.90 $R_{\oplus}$) orbits its M3V star with a period of $\sim$18.79 days, well within the habitable zone ($\sim$0.98 Earth insolation). TOI-7166 b (2.39 $R_{\oplus}$) orbits its M4.5V host star with a period of $\sim$12.92 days, placing it near the inner edge of the habitable zone ($\sim$1.93 Earth insolation). Statistical mass and density estimates suggest that TOI-2094 b may be a volatile-rich planet, such as a water world or a gaseous planet, and is less likely to be rocky, while TOI-7166 b is likely to be volatile-rich. Both planets are of great interest for detailed atmospheric characterisation with the JWST and future ELTs, which requires further precise mass measurements.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2026

TOI-4616 b: a benchmark Earth-sized planet transiting a nearby M4 dwarf

Rocky exoplanets are particularly abundant around M-type stars. Their small radii and low luminosities provide favourable conditions for detecting transiting terrestrial planets and probing their atmospheric properties. We report the discovery and statistical validation of TOI-4616 b, an Earth-sized planet transiting a nearby mid-M dwarf observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We confirm the planetary nature of the signal and determine the system parameters by combining TESS photometry with ground-based multi-band transit observations, high-resolution imaging, and optical and near-infrared spectroscopy. The host star lies at a distance of 28.10 +(-) 0.07 pc and has a radius of 0.1889 +(-)0.0096 solar radii, a mass of 0.1881 +(-) 0.0094 solar masses, and an effective temperature of 3150 +(-) 75 K. TOI-4616 b has a radius of 1.22 Earth radii and an orbital period of 1.55 days. The planet receives an incident flux of approximately 40 times that of Earth, corresponding to an equilibrium temperature of about 525 K. This places TOI-4616 b in a regime intermediate between Earth-sized planets orbiting early M dwarfs and those around ultra-cool hosts. Statistical validation with the TRICERATOPS framework, supported by high-resolution imaging and chromatic transit constraints, yields a false-positive probability of 0.0135, below the recommended validation threshold of 0.015, confirming TOI-4616 b as a validated planet. Owing to its proximity to Earth, well-constrained stellar properties, and extensive multi-band follow-up, TOI-4616 b constitutes a valuable benchmark system for comparative studies of terrestrial planets around mid-M dwarfs and for future atmospheric investigations.

astro-ph.EP↗