A low-eccentricity migration pathway for a 13-h-period Earth analogue in a four-planet system
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Accepted version
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Author(s)
Seager, Sara
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Nature Astronomy
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Seager, Sara. 2022. "A low-eccentricity migration pathway for a 13-h-period Earth analogue in a four-planet system." Nature Astronomy, 6 (6).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
It is commonly accepted that exoplanets with orbital periods shorter than 1
day, also known as ultra-short period (USP) planets, formed further out within
their natal protoplanetary disk, before migrating to their current-day orbits
via dynamical interactions. One of the most accepted theories suggests a
violent scenario involving high-eccentricity migration followed by tidal
circularization. Here, we present the discovery of a four planet system
orbiting the bright (V=10.5) K6 dwarf star TOI-500. The innermost planet is a
transiting, Earth-sized USP planet with an orbital period of $\sim$ 13 hours, a
mass of 1.42 $\pm$ 0.18 M$_{\oplus}$, a radius of $1.166^{0.061}_{-0.058}$
R$_{\oplus}$, and a mean density of 4.89$^{+1.03}_{-0.88}$ gcm$^{-3}$. Via
Doppler spectroscopy, we discovered that the system hosts three outer planets
on nearly circular orbits with periods of 6.6, 26.2, and 61.3d and minimum
masses of 5.03 $\pm$ 0.41 M$_{\oplus}$, 33.12 $\pm$ 0.88 M$_{\oplus}$ and
15.05$^{+1.12}_{-1.11}$ M$_{\oplus}$, respectively. The presence of both a USP
planet and a low-mass object on a 6.6-day orbit indicates that the architecture
of this system can be explained via a scenario in which the planets started on
low-eccentricity orbits, then moved inwards through a quasi-static secular
migration. Our numerical simulations show that this migration channel can bring
TOI-500 b to its current location in 2 Gyrs, starting from an initial orbit of
0.02au. TOI-500 is the first four planet system known to host a USP Earth
analog whose current architecture can be explained via a non-violent migration
scenario.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/S41550-022-01641-Y
