A sub-Earth-mass planet orbiting Barnard’s star

2024/10/01 by Atanas K. Stefanov, A. K. Stefanov, J. I. Gónzalez Hernández +13 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.SR

paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202452450

openalex publication_date 2024/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

A sub-Earth-mass planet orbiting Barnard’s star, designated as Barnard b, has recently been announced. At almost the same time, the first photometric data of Barnard’s star by the Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was released in Sector 80. We explore the possibility of emergent transits of Barnard b in TESS photometry. The detrended 2 min light curve appears to be flat, with a flux root mean square of 0.411 parts per thousand. Attempts of blind and informed transit curve model inference suggest no evidence of transiting Barnard b, or any other body. This provides a 3 σ upper bound of 87.9 degrees for the orbital inclination of Barnard b.

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Discussions

• This small addition to Barnard b's discovery paper eventually got in A&A. Data came right after the acceptance of the main paper, and left us with little time for reaction. But how fortunate am I to h [bsky, 8 points, 0 comments]

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