TOI-1846b: A super-Earth in the radius valley orbiting a nearby M dwarf

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery and validation of a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting a nearby M dwarf, providing insights into the radius gap and planetary formation around low-mass stars.

Contribution

First validation of a super-Earth in the radius valley orbiting a bright M dwarf using combined photometry and high-resolution imaging.

Findings

TOI-1846b has a radius of 1.79 R_Earth and an estimated mass of 4.4 M_Earth.

The planet orbits its star every 3.9 days with an equilibrium temperature of 589K.

The discovery refines the understanding of the radius gap for small planets around M dwarfs.

Abstract

We present the discovery and validation of a super-Earth planet orbiting the M dwarf star TOI-1846 (TIC 198385543). The host star(Kmag = 9.6)is located 47 pc away and has a radius of Rs=0.41+/-0.01R_Sun,a mass of Ms=0.40+/-0.02M_Sun and an effective temperature of Teff=3568+/-44K. Our analyses are based on joint modelling of TESS photometry and ground-based multi-color photometric data. We also use high-resolution imaging and archival images, as well as statistical validation techniques to support the planetary system nature. We find that TOI-1846b is a super-Earth sized planet with radius of Rp=1.79+/-0.07R_Earth and a predicted mass of Mp=4.4+1.6-1.0M_Earth (from the Chen & Kipping relation) on a 3.9 d orbit, with an equilibrium temperature of Teq=589+/-20K (assuming a null Bond Albedo) and an incident flux of Sp=17.6+/-2.0S_Earth. Based on the two RV measurements obtained with the TRES spectrograph and high-resolution imaging, a non-planetary transiting companion is excluded. With a radius of ~1.8R_Earth, TOI-1846b is within the sparsely populated radius range around 2R_Earth known as the radius gap (or radius valley). This discovery can contribute to refining the precise location of the radius valley for small planets orbiting bright M dwarfs, thereby enhancing our understanding of planetary formation and evolution processes.