G贸mez Maqueo Chew, Yadira; Dransfield, George; Barkaoui, Khalid; Cadieux, Charles; Ducrot, Elsa; Rackham, Benjamin V.; Timmermans, Maarten; Burgasser, Adam J.; Segura, Ant铆gona; Stassun, Keivan G.; Ziegler, Carl; Soubkiou, Ahmed; Almenara, Jos茅 M.; Demory, Brice O.; Gillon, Micha毛l; Jenkins, Jon M.; Jofr茅, Ezequiel; Khandelwal, Ankit; P谩ez, Sebasti谩n; Petrucci, Roberto; Parc, Lo茂c; Pichardo Marcano, Mar铆a; Plauchu-Frayn, Isabelle; Schroffenegger, Urs; Schwarz, Reinhard; Tan, Thiam G.; Triaud, Amaury H. M. J.; Benkhaldoun, Zouhair; Bonfils, Xavier; Bouchy, Fran莽ois; Collins, Karen A.; Davoudi, Farzaneh; Doyon, Ren茅; Gachaoui, Mohammed; Hooton, Matthew J.; Jehin, Emmanu毛l; Pozuelos, Francisco J.; Scott, Matthew G.; Yal莽谋nkaya, Sel莽uk; Zong Lang, Feng; Z煤帽iga-Fern谩ndez, Sebasti谩n; De Medeiros, Jos茅 R.; Gonz谩lez-Hern谩ndez, Jonay I.; Santos, Nuno C. (2026).听.听Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 548(1).听
This study reports the discovery and confirmation of a small, Earth-sized聽exoplanet聽(a planet outside our solar system) called聽TOI-1080 b, which orbits its star every ~4 days. The host star is a nearby, relatively quiet聽M dwarf聽(a small, cool type of star) located about 25.6 parsecs (~83 light-years) away. The planet was first detected by the TESS space telescope using the聽transit method聽(observing dips in starlight as the planet passes in front of the star) and confirmed with additional space- and ground-based observations.
TOI-1080 b has a radius about 1.2 times that of Earth and a moderate聽equilibrium temperature聽of around 368 K (about 95掳C), placing it in a 鈥渢emperate鈥� range compared to many hotter close-in planets. Measurements of the star鈥檚 motion (radial velocity) suggest the planet鈥檚 mass is less than about 10.7 times Earth鈥檚 mass. The researchers also ruled out the presence of other nearby planets of similar size in short orbits around the same star.
Because it is relatively small, nearby, and orbits a quiet star, TOI-1080 b is an excellent candidate for further study鈥攅specially for examining its possible聽atmosphere聽using powerful telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is considered a high-priority target for ongoing programs focused on detailed studies of rocky, Earth-like worlds.
Figure 1.
FIRE spectrum of TOI-1080. The target spectrum (red) is shown alongside that of the聽SPEX聽SXD spectrum of the M3.5鈥塚 standard Luyten鈥檚 Star (GJ鈥�273; grey). The higher spectral resolution of the FIRE spectrum gives it a more jagged appearance. Strong M-dwarf spectral features and spectral regions with strong tellurics are indicated. The figure shows the normalized flux of the planet host TOI-1080 as a function of wavelength, between 0.9 to 2.35 microns.