Overview
- Astronomers report two confirmed Earth-sized planets transiting one star in the compact M-dwarf binary TOI-2267, with a third Earth-sized object identified as a strong candidate transiting the companion.
- The finding, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, marks the first time transiting planets have been observed around both members of a binary system.
- Initial signals were extracted using the SHERLOCK tool on NASA’s TESS data, then verified with dedicated observations from the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST telescope networks.
- Researchers describe TOI-2267 as the coldest and most compact stellar pair known to host planets, with the two stars separated by roughly 8 AU (about 1.2 billion kilometers) at a distance of around 190 light-years.
- The planets complete orbits in roughly 2–3.5 days, offering a natural laboratory that challenges prevailing models of rocky planet formation and stability in tight binary environments.