August
2025
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2025MNRAS.541.3249S
Authors
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Soubkiou, Abderahmane
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Barkaoui, Khalid
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Benkhaldoun, Zouhair
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Ghachoui, Mourad
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Chouqar, Jamila
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Rackham, Benjamin V.
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Burgasser, Adam
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Softich, Emma
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Pallé, Enric
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Fukui, Akihiko
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Narita, Norio
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Murgas, Felipe
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Howell, Steve B.
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Clark, Catherine A.
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Littlefield, Colin
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Bieryla, Allyson
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Boyle, Andrew W.
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Ciardi, David
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Collins, Karen
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Collins, Kevin I.
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de Leon, Jerome
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Dressing, Courtney D.
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Eastman, Jason
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Esparza-Borges, Emma
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Giacalone, Steven
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Gill, Holden
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Gillon, Michaël
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Ikuta, Kai
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Jenkins, J. M.
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Kagetani, Taiki
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Latham, David W.
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Mori, Mayuko
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Parviainen, Hannu
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Pass, Emily
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Ricker, G.
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Safonov, Boris S.
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Savel, Arjun B.
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Schwarz, Richard P.
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Seager, Sara
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Strakhov, Ivan A.
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Srdoc, Gregor
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Vanderspek, R.
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Watanabe, Noriharu
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Watkins, Cristilyn N.
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Winn, J.
Abstract
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We present the discovery and validation of a super-Earth planet orbiting the M dwarf star TOI-1846 (TIC 198385543). The host star ($K_{\rm mag} = 9.6$) is located 47 pc away and has a radius of $R_\star = 0.41 \pm 0.01$$\rm \, R_\odot$, a mass of $M_\star = 0.40 \pm 0.02$$\rm \, M_\odot$ and an effective temperature of $T_{\rm eff} = 3568 \pm 44$ K. Our analyses are based on joint modelling of Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry and ground-based multicolour photometric data. We also use high-resolution imaging and archival images, as well as statistical validation techniques to support the planetary system nature. We find that TOI-1846 b is a super-Earth sized planet with radius of $R_{p}=1.79 \pm 0.07$$\rm \, R_{\oplus }$ and a predicted mass of $M_p = 4.4^{+1.6}_{-1.0}$$\rm \, M_{\oplus }$ (from the Chen & Kipping relation) on a 3.9 d orbit, with an equilibrium temperature of $T_{\rm eq}~= 589 \pm 20 K$ (assuming a null Bond Albedo) and an incident flux of $S_p = 17.6 \pm 2.0~S_{\oplus }$. Based on the two radial velocity (RV) measurements obtained with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph and high-resolution imaging, a non-planetary transiting companion is excluded. With a radius of $\approx$1.8 $\rm \, R_{\oplus }$, TOI-1846 b is within the sparsely populated radius range around 2 $\rm \, R_{\oplus }$ known as the radius gap (or radius valley). This discovery can contribute to refining the precise location of the radius valley for small planets orbiting bright M dwarfs, thereby enhancing our understanding of planetary formation and evolution processes.
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