TOI-836: A super-Earth and mini-Neptune transiting a nearby K-dwarf

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and characterization of two transiting exoplanets around a nearby K-dwarf, including their sizes, masses, and potential interactions, using TESS data and follow-up observations.

Contribution

First detailed characterization of a super-Earth and mini-Neptune system around a bright, nearby K-dwarf with combined photometric and radial velocity data.

Findings

TOI-836 b is a 1.70 R⊕ super-Earth with 4.5 M⊕ mass.

TOI-836 c is a 2.59 R⊕ mini-Neptune with 9.6 M⊕ mass.

Transit Timing Variations suggest possible additional planets.

Abstract

We present the discovery of two exoplanets transiting TOI-836 (TIC 440887364) using data from TESS Sector 11 and Sector 38. TOI-836 is a bright ($T = 8.5$ mag), high proper motion ($\sim\,200$ mas yr$^{-1}$), low metallicity ([Fe/H]$\approx\,-0.28$) K-dwarf with a mass of $0.68\pm0.05$ M$_{\odot}$ and a radius of $0.67\pm0.01$ R$_{\odot}$. We obtain photometric follow-up observations with a variety of facilities, and we use these data-sets to determine that the inner planet, TOI-836 b, is a $1.70\pm0.07$ R$_{\oplus}$ super-Earth in a 3.82 day orbit, placing it directly within the so-called 'radius valley'. The outer planet, TOI-836 c, is a $2.59\pm0.09$ R$_{\oplus}$ mini-Neptune in an 8.60 day orbit. Radial velocity measurements reveal that TOI-836 b has a mass of $4.5\pm0.9$ M$_{\oplus}$ , while TOI-836 c has a mass of $9.6\pm2.6$ M$_{\oplus}$. Photometric observations show Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) on the order of 20 minutes for TOI-836 c, although there are no detectable TTVs for TOI-836 b. The TTVs of planet TOI-836 c may be caused by an undetected exterior planet.