Category Archives: Exoplanet Science

HPF Discovers a Close-In Neptune Orbiting a Very Low-Mass Star

Artist’s rendering of the Neptune-mass exoplanet orbiting the very low-mass star LHS 3154.  Video Credit: Abigail Minnich Introduction As the name implies, the Habitable-zone Planet Finder was designed primarily to search for Earthlike planets orbiting nearby stars.  Its sensitivity to … Continue reading

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TOI-3785 b: A Low-Density Neptune Orbiting an M-dwarf Star

By Luke Powers The planet now known as TOI-3785 b was observed in 2019 by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TESS observed periodic dips in the star’s brightness (known as a transit) that occurred every 4.67 days. As TOI-3785 … Continue reading

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New Science, and a History Lesson: a Giant Planet Orbiting Gliese 463

Introduction: the HET/HRS M dwarf Survey HPF is the latest and greatest in Doppler searches for exoplanets orbiting the Galaxy’s smallest stars, but it is certainly not the first, even at Texas’ McDonald Observatory.  Before HPF came on sky, astronomers … Continue reading

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