TOI-3785 b: A Low-density Neptune Orbiting an M2-dwarf Star
Luke Powers, Jessica E. Libby-Roberts, Andrea S. J. Lin, Caleb I. Cañas, Shubham Kanodia, Suvrath Mahadevan, Joe P. Ninan, Guðmundur Stefánsson, Arvind F. Gupta, Sinclaire Jones, Henry A. Kobulnicky, Andrew Monson, Brock A. Parker, Tera N. Swaby, Chad F. Bender, William D. Cochran, Leslie Hebb, Andrew J. Metcalf, Paul Robertson, Christian Schwab, John P. Wisniewski, Jason T. Wright
Abstract
Abstract Using both ground-based transit photometry and high-precision radial velocity spectroscopy, we confirm the planetary nature of TOI-3785 b. This transiting Neptune orbits an M2-Dwarf star with a period of ∼4.67 days, a planetary radius of 5.14 ± 0.16 R ⊕ , a mass of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>14.95</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3.92</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>4.10</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> M ⊕ , and a density of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>0.61</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.17</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.18</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> g cm −3 . TOI-3785 b belongs to a rare population of Neptunes (4 R ⊕ < R p < 7 R ⊕ ) orbiting cooler, smaller M-dwarf host stars, of which only ∼10 have been confirmed. By increasing the number of confirmed planets, TOI-3785 b offers an opportunity to compare similar planets across varying planetary and stellar parameter spaces. Moreover, with a high-transmission spectroscopy metric of ∼150 combined with a relatively cool equilibrium temperature of T eq = 582 ± 16 K and an inactive host star, TOI-3785 b is one of the more promising low-density M-dwarf Neptune targets for atmospheric follow up. Future investigation into atmospheric mass-loss rates of TOI-3785 b may yield new insights into the atmospheric evolution of these low-mass gas planets around M dwarfs.