NEID Reveals That the Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity

Abstract

TOI-2076 b is a sub-Neptune-sized planet (R = 2.39 ± 0.10 R ⊕) that transits a young (204 ± 50 MYr) bright (V = 9.2) K-dwarf hosting a system of three transiting planets. Using spectroscopic observations obtained with the NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope, we model the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of TOI-2076 b, and derive a sky-projected obliquity of λ = − 3 − 15 + 16 ° . Using the size of the star (R = 0.775 ± 0.015 R ⊙), and the stellar rotation period (P rot = 7.27 ± 0.23 days), we estimate an obliquity of ψ = 18 − 9 + 10 ° (ψ < 34° at 95% confidence), demonstrating that TOI-2076 b is in a well-aligned orbit. Simultaneous diffuser-assisted photometry from the 3.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory rules out flares during the transit. TOI-2076 b joins a small but growing sample of young planets in compact multi-planet systems with well-aligned orbits, and is the fourth planet with an age ≲300 Myr in a multi-transiting system with an obliquity measurement. The low obliquity of TOI-2076 b and the presence of transit timing variations in the system suggest the TOI-2076 system likely formed via convergent disk migration in an initially well-aligned disk. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.