A team of citizen scientists has discovered a new gas giant, TOI-4465 b, using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

The planet is located some 400 light-years away from Earth and is six times more massive than Jupiter.

TOI-4465 b orbits its star in an elliptical path at roughly 0.4 times the distance between Earth and the Sun, completing one orbit in about 102 days.

Challenges in detecting long-period exoplanets

The discovery of TOI-4465 b highlights the challenges in detecting long-period exoplanets, which have orbital periods longer than 100 days.

These planets are underrepresented in the current catalog due to limited observational opportunities and resources.

The team behind this discovery, led by Zahra Essack from the University of New Mexico, notes that studying such planets provides insights into planetary system formation and evolution under moderate conditions.

Source: Newsbytesapp