A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS

Sydney Vach; George Zhou; Andrew W. Mann; Madyson G. Barber; Tyler R. Fairnington; Chelsea X. Huang; James G. Rogers; Luke G. Bouma; Joachim Krüger; Duncan Wright; Annabelle E. Niblett; Jack M. Nelson; Samuel N. Quinn; David W. Latham; Allyson Bieryla; Karen A. Collins; Michelle Kunimoto; Cristilyn N. Watkins; Richard P. Schwarz; Kevin I. Collins; Ramotholo Sefako; Keith Horne; Steve B. Howell; Catherine A. Clark; Colin Littlefield; Jessie L. Christiansen; Zahra Essack; Joshua N. Winn

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f

A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS

Sydney Vach^*, George Zhou, Andrew W. Mann, Madyson G. Barber, Tyler R. Fairnington, Chelsea X. Huang, James G. Rogers, Luke G. Bouma, Joachim Krüger, Duncan Wright, Annabelle E. Niblett, Jack M. Nelson, Samuel N. Quinn, David W. Latham, Allyson Bieryla, Karen A. Collins, Michelle Kunimoto, Cristilyn N. Watkins, Richard P. Schwarz, Kevin I. CollinsRamotholo Sefako, Keith Horne, Steve B. Howell, Catherine A. Clark, Colin Littlefield, Jessie L. Christiansen, Zahra Essack, Joshua N. Winn

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Measuring the properties of planets younger than about 50 Myr helps to test different planetary formation and evolution models. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has observed nearly the entire sky, including a wide range of star-forming regions and young stellar clusters, expanding our census of the newborn planet population. In this work, we present the discovery of the TIC 88785435 planetary system located in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) region of the Scorpius Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen) and a preliminary survey of the planet population within Sco-Cen. TIC 88785435 is a pre-main-sequence, K7V dwarf (M_⋆ = 0.72 M_⊙, R_⋆ = 0.91 R_⊙, T_eff = 3998 K, V = 11.7 mag) located within the bounds of UCL. We investigate the distribution of rotation periods measured from the TESS long-cadence data and the Hα and Li abundances from the spectra of TIC 88785435. TESS long-cadence data reveal that TIC 88785435 hosts a transiting super-Neptune (R_b = 5.03 R_⊕, P = 10.51 days), TIC 88785435b. Ground-based follow-up validates the planetary nature of TIC 88785435b. Using the TESS data, we perform a preliminary survey to investigate how TIC 88785435b compares to the population of newly born planets located within Sco-Cen.

Original language	English
Article number	131
Number of pages	12
Journal	The Astronomical Journal
Volume	170
Issue number	2
Early online date	30 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2025

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© 2025. The Author(s). Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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Vach, S., Zhou, G., Mann, A. W., Barber, M. G., Fairnington, T. R., Huang, C. X., Rogers, J. G., Bouma, L. G., Krüger, J., Wright, D., Niblett, A. E., Nelson, J. M., Quinn, S. N., Latham, D. W., Bieryla, A., Collins, K. A., Kunimoto, M., Watkins, C. N., Schwarz, R. P., ... Winn, J. N. (2025). A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS. The Astronomical Journal, 170(2), Article 131. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f

@article{8f4e1c6cc78b4992b4387901c1877820,

title = "A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS",

abstract = "Measuring the properties of planets younger than about 50 Myr helps to test different planetary formation and evolution models. NASA{\textquoteright}s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has observed nearly the entire sky, including a wide range of star-forming regions and young stellar clusters, expanding our census of the newborn planet population. In this work, we present the discovery of the TIC 88785435 planetary system located in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) region of the Scorpius Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen) and a preliminary survey of the planet population within Sco-Cen. TIC 88785435 is a pre-main-sequence, K7V dwarf (M⋆ = 0.72 M⊙, R⋆ = 0.91 R⊙, Teff = 3998 K, V = 11.7 mag) located within the bounds of UCL. We investigate the distribution of rotation periods measured from the TESS long-cadence data and the Hα and Li abundances from the spectra of TIC 88785435. TESS long-cadence data reveal that TIC 88785435 hosts a transiting super-Neptune (Rb = 5.03 R⊕, P = 10.51 days), TIC 88785435b. Ground-based follow-up validates the planetary nature of TIC 88785435b. Using the TESS data, we perform a preliminary survey to investigate how TIC 88785435b compares to the population of newly born planets located within Sco-Cen.",

author = "Sydney Vach and George Zhou and Mann, {Andrew W.} and Barber, {Madyson G.} and Fairnington, {Tyler R.} and Huang, {Chelsea X.} and Rogers, {James G.} and Bouma, {Luke G.} and Joachim Kr{\"u}ger and Duncan Wright and Niblett, {Annabelle E.} and Nelson, {Jack M.} and Quinn, {Samuel N.} and Latham, {David W.} and Allyson Bieryla and Collins, {Karen A.} and Michelle Kunimoto and Watkins, {Cristilyn N.} and Schwarz, {Richard P.} and Collins, {Kevin I.} and Ramotholo Sefako and Keith Horne and Howell, {Steve B.} and Clark, {Catherine A.} and Colin Littlefield and Christiansen, {Jessie L.} and Zahra Essack and Winn, {Joshua N.}",

note = "Funding: G.Z. thanks the support of the ARC DECRA program DE210101893 and ARC Future program FT230100517. CH thanks the support of the ARC DECRA program DE200101840. ",

year = "2025",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f",

language = "English",

volume = "170",

journal = "The Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

}

Vach, S, Zhou, G, Mann, AW, Barber, MG, Fairnington, TR, Huang, CX, Rogers, JG, Bouma, LG, Krüger, J, Wright, D, Niblett, AE, Nelson, JM, Quinn, SN, Latham, DW, Bieryla, A, Collins, KA, Kunimoto, M, Watkins, CN, Schwarz, RP, Collins, KI, Sefako, R, Horne, K, Howell, SB, Clark, CA, Littlefield, C, Christiansen, JL, Essack, Z & Winn, JN 2025, 'A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS', The Astronomical Journal, vol. 170, no. 2, 131. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f

TY - JOUR

T1 - A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS

AU - Vach, Sydney

AU - Zhou, George

AU - Mann, Andrew W.

AU - Barber, Madyson G.

AU - Fairnington, Tyler R.

AU - Huang, Chelsea X.

AU - Rogers, James G.

AU - Bouma, Luke G.

AU - Krüger, Joachim

AU - Wright, Duncan

AU - Niblett, Annabelle E.

AU - Nelson, Jack M.

AU - Quinn, Samuel N.

AU - Latham, David W.

AU - Bieryla, Allyson

AU - Collins, Karen A.

AU - Kunimoto, Michelle

AU - Watkins, Cristilyn N.

AU - Schwarz, Richard P.

AU - Collins, Kevin I.

AU - Sefako, Ramotholo

AU - Horne, Keith

AU - Howell, Steve B.

AU - Clark, Catherine A.

AU - Littlefield, Colin

AU - Christiansen, Jessie L.

AU - Essack, Zahra

AU - Winn, Joshua N.

N1 - Funding: G.Z. thanks the support of the ARC DECRA program DE210101893 and ARC Future program FT230100517. CH thanks the support of the ARC DECRA program DE200101840.

PY - 2025/8/1

Y1 - 2025/8/1

N2 - Measuring the properties of planets younger than about 50 Myr helps to test different planetary formation and evolution models. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has observed nearly the entire sky, including a wide range of star-forming regions and young stellar clusters, expanding our census of the newborn planet population. In this work, we present the discovery of the TIC 88785435 planetary system located in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) region of the Scorpius Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen) and a preliminary survey of the planet population within Sco-Cen. TIC 88785435 is a pre-main-sequence, K7V dwarf (M⋆ = 0.72 M⊙, R⋆ = 0.91 R⊙, Teff = 3998 K, V = 11.7 mag) located within the bounds of UCL. We investigate the distribution of rotation periods measured from the TESS long-cadence data and the Hα and Li abundances from the spectra of TIC 88785435. TESS long-cadence data reveal that TIC 88785435 hosts a transiting super-Neptune (Rb = 5.03 R⊕, P = 10.51 days), TIC 88785435b. Ground-based follow-up validates the planetary nature of TIC 88785435b. Using the TESS data, we perform a preliminary survey to investigate how TIC 88785435b compares to the population of newly born planets located within Sco-Cen.

AB - Measuring the properties of planets younger than about 50 Myr helps to test different planetary formation and evolution models. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has observed nearly the entire sky, including a wide range of star-forming regions and young stellar clusters, expanding our census of the newborn planet population. In this work, we present the discovery of the TIC 88785435 planetary system located in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) region of the Scorpius Centaurus OB association (Sco-Cen) and a preliminary survey of the planet population within Sco-Cen. TIC 88785435 is a pre-main-sequence, K7V dwarf (M⋆ = 0.72 M⊙, R⋆ = 0.91 R⊙, Teff = 3998 K, V = 11.7 mag) located within the bounds of UCL. We investigate the distribution of rotation periods measured from the TESS long-cadence data and the Hα and Li abundances from the spectra of TIC 88785435. TESS long-cadence data reveal that TIC 88785435 hosts a transiting super-Neptune (Rb = 5.03 R⊕, P = 10.51 days), TIC 88785435b. Ground-based follow-up validates the planetary nature of TIC 88785435b. Using the TESS data, we perform a preliminary survey to investigate how TIC 88785435b compares to the population of newly born planets located within Sco-Cen.

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ade67f

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 170

JO - The Astronomical Journal

JF - The Astronomical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 131

ER -

A 16 Myr super-Neptune in Upper Centaurus Lupus and a preliminary survey of transiting planets in Sco-Cen with TESS

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