TOI-2180 b is a giant exoplanet orbiting the G-type star TOI-2180, also known as HD 238894.[1] It was discovered with the help of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and is currently the exoplanet with the longest orbital period TESS was able to uncover (as of September 2022).[3] TOI-2180 b orbits its host star every 260.16 days.[2]
Discovery
TOI-2180 b was first identified as an exoplanet candidate due to a single transit with TESS at 12./13. December 2019 by a group of citizen scientists called the Visual Survey Group, which includes Thomas Lee Jacobs, a former U.S. naval officer.[4] The group was using the light curve processing tool lcTools. In May 2020 the Planet Hunters: TESS collaboration announced this object as a Community TESS Object of Interest (CTOI) and it was soon promoted into a regular TOI.[1]
TOI-2180 b has a long orbital period of 260.16 days,[2] which also leads to a long transit duration of 24 hours.[1] The distance to the host star is 82.8% the sun-earth distance.[1] The planet does not orbit inside the habitable zone, despite this close resemblance in semi-major axis.[5] TOI-2180 b has a high eccentricity of the orbit at 0.37.[1]
The second transit was not detected from the ground and the third transit was not observed.[1] The fourth transit was observed at 31. January/01. February 2022, refining the orbital period. The next transit will occur on 2022 October 18 at 21:28 UTC.[2]
Physical properties
The planet has the same size as Jupiter, but is 2.8 times heavier than Jupiter. TOI-2180 b stand out because of its cold estimated temperature of about 348 Kelvin (74.9 °C, 166.7 °F).[1] This is closer to Jupiters 165 K than most discovered giant exoplanets. TOI-2180 b belongs to a small sample of temperature Jupiters with a temperature <400 K that transit, such as Kepler-167 e, WD 1856+534 b, Kepler-1704 b, KOI-3680 b, Kepler-1514 b and Kepler-539 b. TOI-2180 b has by far the brightest host star with a visual magnitude of 9.16, which is about 3 magnitudes brighter than the next brightest system in this sample.[5]
The planet is likely enriched in metals compared to its host star. The discovery team inferred that TOI-2180 b is enriched in metals by a factor of about 5 compared to its host star. This means it has about 100 ME of heavy elements in its envelope and interior.[1]
Future observations
The exoplanet is a poor target for transmission spectroscopy because of its high surface gravity and the large radius of the host star. The large radius of the star causes a relative shallow transit depth of about 0.5%. The system is still an excellent target to find rings and exomoons around TOI-2180 b. It is also a good target to study the migration of exoplanets.[1] It could be one of the best targets for exomoon searches.[6]
Host star
The host star is a 9.16 magnitude[7] bright and slightly evolved star with a spectral type of G5. It has a mass of 1.1 M☉ and a radius of 1.6 R☉. The radius is increased due to the evolved nature of the star. The star is 116 parsec (379 light-years) distant from earth and has an age of about 8.1 billion years.[1]
Habitable Zone
Currently the habitable zone around TOI-2180 is between 1.5 and 2.2 astronomical units.[1][note 1] Because TOI-2180 is slightly evolved, it had a habitable zone closer to the star in the past. At an age of about 3 billion years the habitable zone was located between 1.1 and 1.6 astronomical units.[1][8][note 2]
Outer planet candidate
The radial velocity monitoring also showed acceleration of TOI 2180 b due to an outer planet or low-mass star in the system.[1] A later analysis of RV data has shown that an outer companion has an orbital period of 1558+68 −19 days, an eccentricity of about 0.31 and a minimum mass of 3.94+0.27 −0.22MJ, making it likely a giant planet. The acceleration (TTV) and the outer companion detected in the RV could be the same object.[6]
Notes
^Using a luminosity of 2.544 by Dalba et al. and using step 2 by Morris
^Using MIST evolutionary track with initial mass=1.115 Msun (best match from isochromes), initial metallicity [Fe/H]=0.269 (Delba et al for TOI-2180) and using synthetic photometry output UBV etc. Then the approach by Morris was used, assuming the star was an F-type back then.
^ abDalba, Paul A.; Kane, Stephen R.; Isaacson, Howard; Fulton, Benjamin; Howard, Andrew W.; Schwieterman, Edward W.; Thorngren, Daniel P.; Fortney, Jonathan; Vowell, Noah (2024-01-01). "Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT 'EM) Survey. IV. Long-term Doppler Spectroscopy for 11 Stars Thought to Host Cool Giant Exoplanets". arXiv:2401.03021 [astro-ph.EP].