The Astronomical Journal (Jan 2024)
An Earth-sized Planet on the Verge of Tidal Disruption
- Fei Dai,
- Andrew W. Howard,
- Samuel Halverson,
- Jaume Orell-Miquel,
- Enric Pallé,
- Howard Isaacson,
- Benjamin Fulton,
- Ellen M. Price,
- Mykhaylo Plotnykov,
- Leslie A. Rogers,
- Diana Valencia,
- Kimberly Paragas,
- Michael Greklek-McKeon,
- Jonathan Gomez Barrientos,
- Heather A. Knutson,
- Erik A. Petigura,
- Lauren M. Weiss,
- Rena Lee,
- Casey L. Brinkman,
- Daniel Huber,
- Gumundur Stefánsson,
- Kento Masuda,
- Steven Giacalone,
- Cicero X. Lu,
- Edwin S. Kite,
- Renyu Hu,
- Eric Gaidos,
- Michael Zhang,
- Ryan A. Rubenzahl,
- Joshua N. Winn,
- Te Han,
- Corey Beard,
- Rae Holcomb,
- Aaron Householder,
- Gregory J. Gilbert,
- Jack Lubin,
- J. M. Joel Ong,
- Alex S. Polanski,
- Nicholas Saunders,
- Judah Van Zandt,
- Samuel W. Yee,
- Jingwen Zhang,
- Jon Zink,
- Bradford Holden,
- Ashley Baker,
- Max Brodheim,
- Ian J. M. Crossfield,
- William Deich,
- Jerry Edelstein,
- Steven R. Gibson,
- Grant M. Hill,
- Sharon R Jelinsky,
- Marc Kassis,
- Russ R. Laher,
- Kyle Lanclos,
- Scott Lilley,
- Joel N. Payne,
- Kodi Rider,
- Paul Robertson,
- Arpita Roy,
- Christian Schwab,
- Abby P. Shaum,
- Martin M. Sirk,
- Chris Smith,
- Adam Vandenberg,
- Josh Walawender,
- Sharon X. Wang,
- Shin-Ywan (Cindy) Wang,
- Edward Wishnow,
- Jason T. Wright,
- Sherry Yeh,
- José A. Caballero,
- Juan C. Morales,
- Felipe Murgas,
- Evangelos Nagel,
- Ansgar Reiners,
- Andreas Schweitzer,
- Hugo M. Tabernero,
- Mathias Zechmeister,
- Alton Spencer,
- David R. Ciardi,
- Catherine A. Clark,
- Michael B. Lund,
- Douglas A. Caldwell,
- Karen A. Collins,
- Richard P. Schwarz,
- Khalid Barkaoui,
- Cristilyn Watkins,
- Avi Shporer,
- Norio Narita,
- Akihiko Fukui,
- Gregor Srdoc,
- David W. Latham,
- Jon M. Jenkins,
- George R. Ricker,
- Sara Seager,
- Roland Vanderspek
Affiliations
- Fei Dai
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences , 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Andrew W. Howard
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Samuel Halverson
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Jaume Orell-Miquel
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Enric Pallé
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Howard Isaacson
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
- Benjamin Fulton
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , MC 314-6, 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Ellen M. Price
- ORCiD
- Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago , 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Mykhaylo Plotnykov
- ORCiD
- Centre for Planetary Sciences, University of Toronto , 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
- Leslie A. Rogers
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Diana Valencia
- ORCiD
- Centre for Planetary Sciences, University of Toronto , 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
- Kimberly Paragas
- ORCiD
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences , 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Michael Greklek-McKeon
- ORCiD
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences , 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Jonathan Gomez Barrientos
- ORCiD
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences , 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Heather A. Knutson
- ORCiD
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences , 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Erik A. Petigura
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Lauren M. Weiss
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
- Rena Lee
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Casey L. Brinkman
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Daniel Huber
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]; Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, University of Sydney , NSW 2006, Australia
- Gumundur Stefánsson
- ORCiD
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Kento Masuda
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University , Osaka 560-0043, Japan
- Steven Giacalone
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Cicero X. Lu
- ORCiD
- Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab , 670 N. A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
- Edwin S. Kite
- ORCiD
- Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Renyu Hu
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Eric Gaidos
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hawai’i at Mänoa , 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Michael Zhang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- Ryan A. Rubenzahl
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Joshua N. Winn
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Te Han
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of California , Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Corey Beard
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of California , Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Rae Holcomb
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Irvine , Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Aaron Householder
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Gregory J. Gilbert
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Jack Lubin
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- J. M. Joel Ong
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Alex S. Polanski
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas , Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
- Nicholas Saunders
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Judah Van Zandt
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Samuel W. Yee
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 60
- Jingwen Zhang
- ORCiD
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; [email protected]
- Jon Zink
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Bradford Holden
- ORCiD
- University of California Observatories University of California , Santa Cruz 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Ashley Baker
- Caltech Optical Observatories , Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Max Brodheim
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Ian J. M. Crossfield
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kansas , 1082 Malott, 1251 Wescoe Hall Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
- William Deich
- ORCiD
- University of California Observatories University of California , Santa Cruz 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- Jerry Edelstein
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Steven R. Gibson
- ORCiD
- Caltech Optical Observatories , Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Grant M. Hill
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Sharon R Jelinsky
- ORCiD
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Marc Kassis
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Russ R. Laher
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , MC 314-6, 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Kyle Lanclos
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Scott Lilley
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Joel N. Payne
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Kodi Rider
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Paul Robertson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Irvine , Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Arpita Roy
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics & Space Institute , Schmidt Sciences, New York, NY 10011, USA
- Christian Schwab
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University , Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia
- Abby P. Shaum
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Martin M. Sirk
- ORCiD
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Chris Smith
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Adam Vandenberg
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Josh Walawender
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- Sharon X. Wang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China
- Shin-Ywan (Cindy) Wang
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , MC 314-6, 1200 E California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Edward Wishnow
- Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Jason T. Wright
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park , PA 16802, USA; Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park , PA 16802, USA; Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, 525 Davey Laboratory, Penn State, University Park , PA 16802, USA
- Sherry Yeh
- ORCiD
- W. M. Keck Observatory , 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Waimea, HI 96743, USA
- José A. Caballero
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA) , ESAC campus, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
- Juan C. Morales
- ORCiD
- Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (ICE, CSIC) , Campus UAB, Can Magrans sn, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC) , 08034 Barcelona, Spain
- Felipe Murgas
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL) , 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Evangelos Nagel
- ORCiD
- Institut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Ansgar Reiners
- ORCiD
- Institut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Andreas Schweitzer
- ORCiD
- Hamburger Sternwarte , Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany
- Hugo M. Tabernero
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica & IPARCOS-UCM (Instituto de Física de Partículas y del Cosmos de la UCM), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , 28040 Madrid, Spain
- Mathias Zechmeister
- ORCiD
- Institut für Astrophysik und Geophysik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen , Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Alton Spencer
- ORCiD
- Western Connecticut State University , Danbury, CT 06810, USA
- David R. Ciardi
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Catherine A. Clark
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA; NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Michael B. Lund
- ORCiD
- NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech-IPAC , 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Douglas A. Caldwell
- ORCiD
- SETI Institute , Mountain View, CA 94043 USA/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 USA
- Karen A. Collins
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 60
- Richard P. Schwarz
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 60
- Khalid Barkaoui
- ORCiD
- Astrobiology Research Unit, Université de Liège , 19C Allée du 6 Août, 4000 Liège, Belgium; Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38200, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Cristilyn Watkins
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 60
- Avi Shporer
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Norio Narita
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo , 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan; Astrobiology Center , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
- Akihiko Fukui
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) , Calle Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo , 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
- Gregor Srdoc
- Kotizarovci Observatory , Sarsoni 90, 51216 Viskovo, Croatia
- David W. Latham
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 60
- Jon M. Jenkins
- ORCiD
- NASA Ames Research Center , Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
- George R. Ricker
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Sara Seager
- ORCiD
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Roland Vanderspek
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad5a7d
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 168,
no. 3
p. 101
Abstract
TOI-6255 b (GJ 4256) is an Earth-sized planet (1.079 ± 0.065 R _⊕ ) with an orbital period of only 5.7 hr. With the newly commissioned Keck Planet Finder and CARMENES spectrographs, we determine the planet’s mass to be 1.44 ± 0.14 M _⊕ . The planet is just outside the Roche limit, with P _orb / P _Roche = 1.13 ± 0.10. The strong tidal force likely deforms the planet into a triaxial ellipsoid with a long axis that is ∼10% longer than the short axis. Assuming a reduced stellar tidal quality factor ${Q}_{\star }^{{\prime} }\approx {10}^{7}$ , we predict that tidal orbital decay will cause TOI-6255 to reach the Roche limit in roughly 400 Myr. Such tidal disruptions may produce the possible signatures of planet engulfment that have been seen on stars with anomalously high refractory elemental abundances compared to their conatal binary companions. TOI-6255 b is also a favorable target for searching for star–planet magnetic interactions, which might cause interior melting and hasten orbital decay. TOI-6255 b is a top target (with an Emission Spectroscopy Metric of about 24) for phase-curve observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.
Keywords
