Uncovering the rapidly evolving orbits of the dynamic TOI-201 system.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41984949.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aef2618 and PMC identifier 13082327.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Studying planetary interactions in exoplanet systems informs theories of planet formation and evolution, providing essential context for understanding our own solar system. We combine spectroscopy, transit photometry, transit timing variations, and astrometry to characterize the TOI-201 system. The cotransiting system consists of a super-Earth, warm Jupiter, and massive companion at 5.8-, 53-, and 2900-day orbital periods, respectively. We perform dynamical simulations to study the past and future of the system. von-Zeipel-Kozai-Lidov oscillations emerge as the most plausible scenario to explain the outer companion's high orbital eccentricity, with planet-planet scattering a possible but less likely contender. Because of nonzero mutual inclinations between the planets, the system is visibly evolving on very short timescales, with the current cotransiting configuration ending in 200 years.