TOI-1338 b

Last updated
TOI-1338 b
TOI 1338b.png
Artist's impression of the TOI-1338 b exoplanet.
Discovery
Discovered by Wolf Cukier
Discovery dateSummer 2019
Transit
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 M🜨 [2]
Mean density
0.36+0.02
−0.01 g/cm3 [3]

    TOI-1338 b, also known as BEBOP-1b, [4] is a gas giant circumbinary planet orbiting around the binary star system of TOI-1338. First identified by then-17-year-old Wolf Cukier, it was the first circumbinary planet discovered using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). [5] The planet was discovered in the summer of 2019, and its discovery was announced 6 January 2020. [6] [7]

    Contents

    Planetary properties

    TOI-1338 b is located 1,318 light years away from Earth. It has a radius 6.9 times that of Earth, [8] and a mass roughly 11.3 times that of Earth. [2]

    Cukier has stated that the planet could not contain life, as it is too hot, with its orbital period being close to that of Mercury. [9]

    The planet orbits 2 stars, TOI-1338 A and TOI-1338 B, which closely orbit each other, making the planet circumbinary. Due to its circumbinary properties, Cukier has compared it to the fictional Star Wars planet of Tatooine, which also orbits 2 stars. [9]

    Discovery

    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] [10] Its discovery was announced on 6 January at the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. [7] He and 6 other volunteers later co-authored a publication about the planet. [1]

    The discovery of TOI-1338 c, a planet in the same system, was announced in 2023, about 4 years after TOI-1338 b was discovered. [11]

    Nomenclature

    The initialism "TOI" in the planet's name stands for "TESS Objects of Interest."

    SOPHIE renaming petition

    In February 2021, a petition was launched calling for the planet to be renamed SOPHIE in honor of late Scottish musician Sophie. [12] The petition was supported by Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek. [13] 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]

    References

    1. 1 2 Kostov, Veselin B.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Feinstein, Adina D.; Welsh, William F.; Cukier, Wolf; Haghighipour, Nader; Quarles, Billy; Martin, David V.; Montet, Benjamin T.; Torres, Guillermo; Triaud, Amaury H. M. J.; Barclay, Thomas; Boyd, Patricia; Briceno, Cesar; Cameron, Andrew Collier (7 May 2025). "TOI-1338: TESS' First Transiting Circumbinary Planet". The Astronomical Journal. 159 (6): 253. arXiv: 2004.07783 . Bibcode:2020AJ....159..253K. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ab8a48 . ISSN   1538-3881.
    2. 1 2 3 "TOI-1338 b - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
    3. ↑ Standing, Matthew R.; Sairam, Lalitha; Martin, David V.; Triaud, Amaury H. M. J.; Correia, Alexandre C. M.; Coleman, Gavin A. L.; Baycroft, Thomas A.; Kunovac, Vedad; Boisse, Isabelle; Cameron, Andrew Collier; Dransfield, Georgina; Faria, João P.; Gillon, Michaël; Hara, Nathan C.; Hellier, Coel (12 June 2023). "Radial-velocity discovery of a second planet in the TOI-1338/BEBOP-1 circumbinary system". Nature Astronomy. 7 (6): 702–714. doi:10.1038/s41550-023-01948-4. ISSN   2397-3366.
    4. ↑ "New Tatooine-like multi-planetary system identified". University of Coimbra . June 12, 2025. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
    5. ↑ Wang, Mu-Tian; Liu, Hui-Gen (25 June 2024). "Photo-dynamical Analysis of Circumbinary Multi-planet System TOI-1338: A Fully Coplanar Configuration with a Puffy Planet". The Astronomical Journal. 168 (1): 31. arXiv: 2404.18415 . Bibcode:2024AJ....168...31W. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad4a60 . ISSN   1538-3881.
    6. ↑ Hess, Abigail Johnson (10 December 2020). "17-year-old discovers planet 6.9 times larger than Earth on third day of internship with NASA". CNBC. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
    7. 1 2 Kazmierczak, Jeanette. "7 January 2020". NASA. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
    8. 1 2 Pereira, Ivan. "New York teen discovers new planet while interning with NASA". ABC News. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
    9. 1 2 Scotti, Steve; Cukier, Wolf (20 February 2020). "Teenager Discovers a New Planet | Brilliant Star". brilliantstarmagazine.org. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
    10. ↑ "Discovery Alert! High School Student Finds a World With Two Suns". Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
    11. ↑ "TOI-1338 c - NASA Science". 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
    12. ↑ Yeung, Vivian (3 February 2021). "Petition launched to name planet after SOPHIE". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
    13. ↑ "SOPHIE fans call for NASA to name a planet after the late musician". Dazed. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
    14. ↑ "WGSBN Bulletin, Volume 1, #3" (PDF). International Astronomical Union. 16 June 2021. ISSN   2789-2603. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
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