Title of programme: CHEOPS transits of two 48-Myr mini-Neptunes in the Taurus-Orion II moving group
Abstract: Within the first 100 Myr, planets undergo critical evolutionary events. Observing young planetary systems allow us to gain insights into the physical processes that shape the mature planetary population. TIC 434398831 is a pre-main-seqeunce, Sun-like star (G7V, G = 11.7893) hosting two transiting mini-Neptunes. Gaia kinematics place TIC 434398831 in the 48-Myr Taurus-Orion II moving group. We identified two planetary candidates, TIC 434398831.01 (Rp = 3.65 Rearth, P = 3.61 days) and TIC 434398831.02 (Rp = 5.41 Rearth, P = 6.12 days), through an independent search for young planets located in known moving groups from the TESS's Full Frame Images (FFIs) light curves. We propose to use 4 visits of CHEOPS to observe two transits of both TIC 434398831.01 and TIC 434398831.02, which is necessary for the confirmation of this exemplar system, as high-precision, space-based photometry is needed to overcome the photometric modulations of the young star. Our CHEOPS observations will have the capability to anchor the optical transit depths of the two young planets, which will enable us to distinguish between different cloud and haze scenarios in future atmospheric observations.
Temporal Coverage
2023-11-25T21:17:56Z / 2023-11-26T07:39:00Z
Version
3.0
Mission Description
CHEOPS (Benz et al., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-020-09679-4) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission in partnership with Switzerland with important contributions to the payload and the ground segment from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The satellite has a single payload comprising an ultra-high precision photometer covering the 330 - 1100 nm wavelength range in a single photometric band. Observations are made as part of the Guaranteed Time Observing Programme that is formulated by the CHEOPS Science Team, and the Guest Observers Programme through which the Community at large can apply for CHEOPS time.
