NEID Reveals That the Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity

  • Robert C. Frazier
  • , Gudmundur Stefánsson
  • , Suvrath Mahadevan
  • , Samuel W. Yee
  • , Caleb I. Cañas
  • , Joshua N. Winn
  • , Jacob Luhn
  • , Fei Dai
  • , Lauren Doyle
  • , Heather Cegla
  • , Shubham Kanodia
  • , Paul Robertson
  • , John Wisniewski
  • , Chad F. Bender
  • , Jiayin Dong
  • , Arvind F. Gupta
  • , Samuel Halverson
  • , Suzanne Hawley
  • , Leslie Hebb
  • , Rae Holcomb
  • Adam Kowalski, Jessica Libby-Roberts, Andrea S.J. Lin, Michael W. McElwain, Joe P. Ninan, Cristobal Petrovich, Arpita Roy, Christian Schwab, Ryan C. Terrien, Jason T. Wright

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

TOI-2076 b is a sub-Neptune-sized planet (R = 2.39 ± 0.10 R ) that transits a young (204 ± 50 MYr) bright (V = 9.2) K-dwarf hosting a system of three transiting planets. Using spectroscopic observations obtained with the NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope, we model the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of TOI-2076 b, and derive a sky-projected obliquity of λ = − 3 − 15 + 16 ° . Using the size of the star (R = 0.775 ± 0.015 R ), and the stellar rotation period (P rot = 7.27 ± 0.23 days), we estimate an obliquity of ψ = 18 − 9 + 10 ° (ψ < 34° at 95% confidence), demonstrating that TOI-2076 b is in a well-aligned orbit. Simultaneous diffuser-assisted photometry from the 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory rules out flares during the transit. TOI-2076 b joins a small but growing sample of young planets in compact multi-planet systems with well-aligned orbits, and is the fourth planet with an age ≲300 Myr in a multi-transiting system with an obliquity measurement. The low obliquity of TOI-2076 b and the presence of transit timing variations in the system suggest the TOI-2076 system likely formed via convergent disk migration in an initially well-aligned disk.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL41
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume944
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'NEID Reveals That the Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this