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TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b: two metal-rich sub-Saturns well within the Neptunian desert

A. Hacker, R. F. Díaz, D. J. Armstrong, J. Fernández Fernández, S. Müller, E. Delgado Mena, S. G. Sousa, V. Zh. Adibekyan, K. G. Stassun, K. A. Collins, S. W. Yee, D. Bayliss, A. Bieryla, F. Bouchy, R. P. Butler, J. D. Crane, X. Dumusque, J. D. Hartman, R. Helled, J. M. Jenkins, M. A. F. Keniger, H. Lewis, J. Lillo-Box, M. B. Lund, L. D. Nielsen, A. Osborn, D. Osip, M. Paegert, D. J. Radford, N. C. Santos, S. Seager, S. A. Shectman, G. Srdoc, P. A. Strøm, T.-G. Tan, J. Teske, M. Vezie, D. Watanabe, C. N. Watkins, P. J. Wheatley, J. N. Winn, B. Wohler, C. Ziegler

Abstract
We report the discovery of two transiting planets detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), TOI-2374 b and TOI-3071 b, orbiting a K5V and an F8V star, respectively, with periods of 4.31 and 1.27 d, respectively. We confirm and characterize these two planets with a variety of ground-based and follow-up observations, including photometry, precise radial velocity monitoring and high-resolution imaging. The planetary and orbital parameters were derived from a joint analysis of the radial velocities and photometric data. We found that the two planets have masses of (57 ± 4) M or (0.18 ± 0.01) MJ, and (68 ± 4) M or (0.21 ± 0.01) MJ, respectively, and they have radii of (6.8 ± 0.3) R or (0.61 ± 0.03) RJ and (7.2 ± 0.5) R or (0.64 ± 0.05) RJ, respectively. These parameters correspond to sub-Saturns within the Neptunian desert, both planets being hot and highly irradiated, with Teq ≈ 745 K and Teq ≈ 1812 K, respectively, assuming a Bond albedo of 0.5. TOI-3071 b has the hottest equilibrium temperature of all known planets with masses between 10 and 300 M and radii less than 1.5 RJ. By applying gas giant evolution models we found that both planets, especially TOI-3071 b, are very metal-rich. This challenges standard formation models which generally predict lower heavy-element masses for planets with similar characteristics. We studied the evolution of the planets’ atmospheres under photoevaporation and concluded that both are stable against evaporation due to their large masses and likely high metallicities in their gaseous envelopes.

Keywords
exoplanets, planets and satellites: detection, planets and satellites: gaseous planets, planets and satellites: individual: (TOI-2374, TIC 439366538, and TOI-3071, TIC 452006073), planetary systems

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume 532, Issue 2, Page 22
2024 August

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Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia COMPETE 2020 PORTUGAL 2020 União Europeia