![]() Artist's impression of the TOI-1338 b exoplanet. | |
Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Wolf Cukier |
Discovery date | 31 July 2019 |
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite | |
Orbital characteristics | |
0.4607+0.0084 −0.0088 AU [1] | |
Eccentricity | 0.0331+0.0022 −0.0021 |
95.4001+0.0062 −0.0056 days | |
Inclination | 90.494+0.013 −0.014 ° |
Star | TOI-1338 |
Physical characteristics | |
0.683 RJ [2] | |
Mass | 11.3±2.1 M🜨 [2] |
Mean density | 398 kg/m3 [3] |
TOI-1338 b is a gas giant circumbinary exoplanet in the constellation Pictor, orbiting around the binary star system TOI-1338. First identified by then-17-year-old Wolf Cukier, it was the first circumbinary planet discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). [4] It was discovered on 31 July 2019, and announced 6 January 2020. [5] [6]
Located 1,318 light years [a] away from Earth, the exoplanet has a radius of 16,991 kilometers (10,558 miles), [b] a mass roughly 12.3 times that of Earth, [c] and a mean density of 398 kg/m3 (24.84 lb/ft3). [3] [7]
Wolf Cukier, a 17-year-old attending Scarsdale High School in New York at the time, joined the Goddard Space Flight Center in 2019 to work as a summer intern. While studying data that was flagged as an eclipsing binary (provided by volunteers of the Planet Hunters citizen science project), he found the planet on his third day of interning. [8] [9] Its discovery was announced on 6 January at the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. [10] He and 6 other volunteers later co-authored a publication about the planet. [1] Cukier then attended Princeton University and graduated in 2024.
The acronym TOI stands for "TESS Objects of Interest." Cukier's younger brother suggested naming the planet "Wolftopia", but Cukier decided that TOI-1338 b was "sufficient". [11] In February 2021, a petition was launched calling for the planet to be renamed SOPHIE in honor of late Scottish musician Sophie. [12] [13] The petition was supported by Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek. [12] It was unsuccessful in officially renaming the planet, however the International Astronomical Union announced that the minor planet 1980 RE1 would be given the permanent name Sophiexeon in June 2021. [14]