A 2+1+1 quadruple star system containing the most eccentric, low-mass, short-period, eclipsing binary known

We present an analysis of a newly discovered 2+1+1 quadruple system with TESS containing an unresolved eclipsing binary (EB) as part of TIC 121088960 and a close neighbor TIC 121088959. The EB consists of two very low-mass M dwarfs in a highly-eccentric (e = 0.709) short-period (P = 3.04358 d) orbit. Given the large pixel size of TESS and the small separation (3${^{\prime\prime}_{.}}$9) between TIC 121088959 and TIC 121088960 we used light centroid analysis of the difference image between in-eclipse and out-of-eclipse data to show that the EB likely resides in TIC 121088960, but contributes only ∼10% of its light. Radial velocity data were acquired with iSHELL at NASA’s Infrared Facility and the Coudé spectrograph at the McDonald 2.7-m telescope. For both images, the measured RVs showed no variation over the 11-day observational baseline, and the RV difference between the two images was 8 ± 0.3 km s−1. The similar distances and proper motions of the two images indicate that TIC 121088959 and TIC 121088960 are a gravitationally bound pair. Gaia’s large RUWE and astrometric_excess_noise parameters for TIC 121088960, further indicate that this image is the likely host of the unresolved EB and is itself a triple star. We carried out an SED analysis and calculated stellar masses for the four stars, all of which are in the M dwarf regime: 0.19 M⊙ and 0.14 M⊙ for the EB stars and 0.43 M⊙ and 0.39 M⊙ for the brighter visible stars, respectively. Lastly, numerical simulations show that the orbital period of the inner triple is likely the range 1 to 50 years.Accepted manuscrip

Mysterious Dust-emitting Object Orbiting TIC 400799224

We report the discovery of a unique object of uncertain nature - but quite possibly a disintegrating asteroid or minor planet - orbiting one star of the widely separated binary TIC 400799224. We initially identified the system in data from TESS Sector 10 via an abnormally shaped fading event in the light curve (hereafter "dips"). Follow-up speckle imaging determined that TIC 400799224 is actually two stars of similar brightness at 0.″62 separation, forming a likely bound binary with projected separation of ∼300 au. We cannot yet determine which star in the binary is host to the dips in flux. ASAS-SN and Evryscope archival data show that there is a strong periodicity of the dips at ∼19.77 days, leading us to believe that an occulting object is orbiting the host star, though the duration, depth, and shape of the dips vary substantially. Statistical analysis of the ASAS-SN data shows that the dips only occur sporadically at a detectable threshold in approximately one out of every three to five transits, lending credence to the possibility that the occulter is a sporadically emitted dust cloud. The cloud is also fairly optically thick, blocking up to 37% or 75% of the light from the host star, depending on the true host. Further observations may allow for greater detail to be gleaned as to the origin and composition of the occulter, as well as to a determination of which of the two stars comprising TIC 400799224 is the true host star of the dips

TESS discovery of a super-earth and three sub-neptunes hosted by the bright, sunlike star HD 108236

We report the discovery and validation of four extrasolar planets hosted by the nearby, bright, Sun-like (G3V) star HD 108236 using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We present transit photometry, reconnaissance, and precise Doppler spectroscopy, as well as high-resolution imaging, to validate the planetary nature of the objects transiting HD 108236, also known as the TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 1233. The innermost planet is a possibly rocky super-Earth with a period of 3.79523+0.00047-0.00044 days and has a radius of 1.586 ± 0.098 R⊗.The outer planets are sub-Neptunes, with potential gaseous envelopes, having radii of 2.068+0.10-0.091 R⊗, 2.72 ± 0.11 R⊗, and 3.12+0.13-0.12 R⊗ and periods of 6.20370+0.00064-0.00052 days, 14.17555+0.00099-0.0011 days, and 19.5917+0.0022-0.0020 days, respectively. With V and Ks magnitudes of 9.2 and 7.6, respectively, the bright host star makes the transiting planets favorable targets for mass measurements and, potentially, for atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy. HD 108236 is the brightest Sun-like star in the visual (V ) band known to host four or more transiting exoplanets. The discovered planets span a broad range of planetary radii and equilibrium temperatures and share a common history of insolation from a Sun-like star (R∗ = 0.888 ± 0.017 R⊙, Teff = 5730 ± 50 K), making HD 108236 an exciting, opportune cosmic laboratory for testing models of planet formation and evolution