Overview

• Researchers confirmed TOI-1846 b as a super-Earth twice Earth’s size and four times its mass, orbiting a red dwarf every four days at 154 light-years away.
• The planet resides in the radius gap between rocky worlds and gas-rich giants, presenting a rare opportunity to study small-planet evolution and atmospheric loss.
• Abderahmane Soubkiou’s team validated the discovery using TESS photometry, multicolor ground-based imaging, high-resolution observations and spectroscopy.
• A James Webb Space Telescope infrared campaign will probe the planet’s atmosphere for water vapor, methane and other gases.
• Subtle transit timing variations in TOI-1846 b’s orbit hint at a potential second, more distant companion in the system.