The amazing disappearing exoplanet
Summary
TOI-2535b, a hot Jupiter that orbits its star every eight days, has stopped transiting in recent observations. Researchers suspect gravitational interactions with an unseen planet in a differently aligned orbit are changing the planet’s path across our view of its star.Key Facts
- TOI-2535 is a K dwarf, a star somewhat smaller than the Sun.
- TESS identified signs of a Jupiter-sized planet, TOI-2535b, orbiting the star every eight days.
- The timing of TOI-2535b’s transits varied by as much as six hours.
- The planet’s transit duration grew shorter over time before transits stopped appearing in recent observations.
- Researchers suspect an unseen companion is changing TOI-2535b’s orbital inclination, the tilt of its orbit relative to our line of sight.
- Researchers modeled 300,000 possible starting configurations for the two planets.
- In the remaining stable model configurations, the unseen planet was at least roughly Saturn-sized, and the angle between the planets’ orbits could not be too large.
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