TOI-4201: An Early M Dwarf Hosting a Massive Transiting Jupiter Stretching Theories of Core Accretion

• Published in: Astrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 962; no. 2; p. L22
• Main Authors: Delamer, Megan, Kanodia, Shubham, Cañas, Caleb I., Müller, Simon, Helled, Ravit, Lin, Andrea S. J., Libby-Roberts, Jessica E., Gupta, Arvind F., Mahadevan, Suvrath, Teske, Johanna, Butler, R. Paul, Yee, Samuel W., Crane, Jeffrey D., Shectman, Stephen, Osip, David, Beletsky, Yuri, Monson, Andrew, Hebb, Leslie, Powers, Luke C., Wisniewski, John P., Alvarado-Montes, Jaime A., Bender, Chad F., Dong, Jiayin, Han, Te, Ninan, Joe P., Robertson, Paul, Roy, Arpita, Schwab, Christian, Stefánsson, Guđmundur, Wright, Jason T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin IOP Publishing 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Accretion; Exoplanet astronomy; Exoplanet detection methods; Exoplanet formation; Exoplanets; Extrasolar planets; Gravitational instability; Jupiter; Mass budget; Planet detection; Planet formation; Planets; Radial velocity; Red dwarf stars; Transit; Transit photometry
• ISSN: 2041-8205; 2041-8213
• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad1a19

Abstract We confirm TOI-4201 b as a transiting Jovian-mass planet orbiting an early M dwarf discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Using ground-based photometry and precise radial velocities from NEID and the Planet Finder Spectrograph, we measure a planet mass of 2.59 − 0.06 + 0.07 M J , making this one of the most massive planets transiting an M dwarf. The planet is ∼0.4% of the mass of its 0.63 M ⊙ host and may have a heavy-element mass comparable to the total dust mass contained in a typical class II disk. TOI-4201 b stretches our understanding of core accretion during the protoplanetary phase and the disk mass budget, necessitating giant planet formation to take place either much earlier in the disk lifetime or perhaps through alternative mechanisms like gravitational instability.