Masses for the seven planets in K2-32 and K2-233. Four diverse planets in resonant chain and the first young rocky worlds

TL;DR

This study precisely measures the masses and densities of planets in two systems, K2-32 and K2-233, revealing their compositions, architectures, and providing insights into planet formation, especially for young rocky worlds and multi-planet systems.

Contribution

It presents the first precise mass measurements for planets in these systems, including young rocky planets and a resonant chain, enhancing understanding of planetary composition and system architecture.

Findings

K2-32 hosts four planets with well-measured masses and radii.

First constraints on masses of young rocky planets in K2-233.

Confirmation of rocky nature of two planets orbiting a young star.

Abstract

High-precision planetary densities are key to derive robust atmospheric properties for extrasolar planets. Measuring precise masses is the most challenging part, especially in multi-planetary systems. We measure the masses and densities of a four-planet near resonant chain system (K2-32), and a young ($\sim400$ Myr old) planetary system consisting of three close-in small planets (K2-233). We obtained 199 new HARPS observations for K2-32 and 124 for K2-233 covering a more than three year baseline. We find that K2-32 is a compact scaled-down version of the Solar System's architecture, with a small rocky inner planet (M$_e=2.1^{+1.3}_{-1.1}$~M$_{\oplus}$, P$_e\sim4.35$~days) followed by an inflated Neptune-mass planet (M$_b=15.0^{+1.8}_{-1.7}$~M$_{\oplus}$, P$_b\sim8.99$~days) and two external sub-Neptunes (M$_c=8.1\pm2.4$~M$_{\oplus}$, P$_c\sim20.66$~days; M$_d=6.7\pm2.5$~M$_{\oplus}$, P$_d\sim31.72$~days). K2-32 becomes one of the few multi-planetary systems with four or more planets known with measured masses and radii. Additionally, we constrain the masses of the three planets in K2-233. For the two inner Earth-size planets we constrain their masses to be smaller than M$_b<11.3$ M$_{\oplus}$ (P$_b\sim2.47$~days), M$_c<12.8$ M$_{\oplus}$ (P$_c\sim7.06$~days). The outer planet is a sub-Neptune size planet with an inferred mass of M$_d=8.3^{+5.2}_{-4.7}$ M$_{\oplus}$ (M$_d<21.1$ M$_{\oplus}$, P$_d\sim24.36$~days). Our observations of these two planetary systems confirm for the first time the rocky nature of two planets orbiting a young star, with relatively short orbital periods ($<7$ days). They provide key information for planet formation and evolution models of telluric planets. Additionally, the Neptune-like derived masses of the three planets K2-32 b, c, d puts them in a relatively unexplored regime of incident flux and planet mass, key for transmission spectroscopy studies.