Mini-Neptune Exoplanet Orbiting Bright K-Type Star Discovered With TESS

Above is a graph of TESS phase-folded data of TOI-283 b. Credit: arXiv (2025). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2510.15084

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers have detected a new exoplanet orbiting a bright K-type star known as TOI-283. The newfound alien world, which received the designation TOI-283 b, is about 40% smaller than Neptune. The discovery was detailed in a research paper published October 16 on the pre-print server arXiv.

TESS is searching for extrasolar worlds transiting bright and nearby stars. To date, it has identified more than 7,700 candidate exoplanets (TESS Objects of Interest, or TOI), and 705 of them have been confirmed by follow-up observations.

Located some 269 light years away, TIC 382626661 is a bright K-type star about 15% smaller and 20% less massive than the sun. The star has been observed with TESS since 2018, which resulted in the detection of a transit signal in its light curve and it received the designation TOI-283.

(Source: phys.org)