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TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME). VI. An 11 Myr Giant Planet Transiting a Very-low-mass Star in Lower Centaurus CruxMature super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are predicted to be ≃ Jovian radius when younger than 10 Myr. Thus, we expect to find 5-15 R ⊕ planets around young stars even if their older counterparts harbor none. We report the discovery and validation of TOI 1227b, a 0.85 ± 0.05 R J (9.5 R ⊕) planet transiting a very-low-mass star (0.170 ± 0.015 M ⊙) every 27.4 days. TOI 1227's kinematics and strong lithium absorption confirm that it is a member of a previously discovered subgroup in the Lower Centaurus Crux OB association, which we designate the Musca group. We derive an age of 11 ± 2 Myr for Musca, based on lithium, rotation, and the color-magnitude diagram of Musca members. The TESS data and ground-based follow-up show a deep (2.5%) transit. We use multiwavelength transit observations and radial velocities from the IGRINS spectrograph to validate the signal as planetary in nature, and we obtain an upper limit on the planet mass of ≃0.5 M J. Because such large planets are exceptionally rare around mature low-mass stars, we suggest that TOI 1227b is still contracting and will eventually turn into one of the more common <5 R ⊕ planets.
Document ID
20220005617
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Andrew W Mann ORCID
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States)
Mackenna L Wood
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States)
Stephen P Schmidt
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States)
Madyson G Barber
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States)
James E Owen
(Imperial College London London, United Kingdom)
Ben Tofflemire
(The University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States)
Elisabeth R Newton ORCID
(Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire, United States)
Eric E Mamajek
(Jet Propulsion Lab La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States)
Jonathan L Bush
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States)
Gregory N Mace
(The University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States)
Adam L Kraus
(The University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States)
Pa Chia Thao ORCID
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States)
Andrew Vanderburg ORCID
(The University of Texas at Austin Austin, United States)
Joe Llama ORCID
(Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Christopher M Johns-Krull ORCID
(Rice University Houston, United States)
Lisa Prato ORCID
(Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Asa G Stahl ORCID
(Rice University Houston, United States)
Shih-Yun Tang ORCID
(Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Matthew J Fields
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States)
Karen A Collins ORCID
(Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Kevin I Collins ORCID
(George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia, United States)
Tianjun Gan ORCID
(Tsinghua University Beijing, China)
Eric L N Jensen ORCID
(Swarthmore College Swarthmore, United States)
Jacob Kamler
(John F. Kennedy High School)
Richard P Schwarz ORCID
(Patashnick Voorheesville Observatory Voorheesville, NY, USA)
Elise Furlan
(California Institute of Technology Pasadena, United States)
Crystal L Gnilka ORCID
(California Institute of Technology Pasadena, United States)
Steve B Howell
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, California, United States)
Kathryn V Lester
(Oak Ridge Associated Universities Oak Ridge, United States)
Dylan A Owens
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, United States)
Olga Suarez ORCID
(Université Côte d'Azur Nice, France)
Djamel Mekarnia ORCID
(Université Côte d'Azur Nice, France)
Tristan Guillot ORCID
(Université Côte d'Azur Nice, France)
Lyu Abe ORCID
(Université Côte d'Azur Nice, France)
Amaury H M J Triaud ORCID
(University of Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Date Acquired
April 11, 2022
Publication Date
March 9, 2022
Publication Information
Publication: The Astronomical Journal
Publisher: IOP Publishing for the American Astronomical Society (United States)
Volume: 163
Issue: 4
Issue Publication Date: April 1, 2022
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 132379.04.07.01.81
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
Technical Review
Single Expert
Keywords
5–15 R⊕ planets
IGRINS spectrograph
IGRINS
THYME
TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets
TESS