Particle.news
Download on the App Store

First Transiting Planets Around Both Stars Found in Tight Binary TOI-2267

The peer-reviewed discovery provides a rare natural laboratory that challenges models of rocky-planet formation in close binary systems.

Overview

  • Astronomers report two confirmed warm Earth-sized planets, TOI-2267b and TOI-2267c, and a third Earth-sized candidate in the M-dwarf binary TOI-2267.
  • The confirmed planets have orbital periods of about 2.28 and 3.49 days, while the candidate shows a 2.03-day signal.
  • Transits are detected around both stars in the pair, marking the first confirmed system with planets crossing each stellar component.
  • Signals were uncovered by reprocessing TESS data with the SHERLOCK tool and validated with rapid ground-based follow-up from the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST networks.
  • Key details remain under investigation, including definitive host-star assignments for the confirmed planets, mass measurements, and further characterization in follow-up observations.