The TESS harvest of temperate worlds: Expanding the population of transiting giant exoplanets

Most detected transiting planets have orbits of a few tens of days, exposing them to intense stellar irradiation and interactions that significantly alter their properties. In contrast, colder planets with longer orbital periods are less affected, offering crucial insights into their formation and migration histories. I will review the detection and characterization of warm and temperate giant planets first found as TESS transits. In particular I will detail the detection of planetary systems hosting a rare class of planets: transiting temperate Jupiters with orbital periods up to 500 days, thanks to a four-year ground and space-based photometric and radial velocity survey.

This research lays the groundwork for the detection of Earth analogs by the PLATO mission, highlighting the importance of follow-up observations of single and duo-transit candidates in uncovering transiting Earth-like planets. Combining precise masses, radii, and ages with a state-of-the-art planetary evolution model, I infer the metal enrichment of the newly discovered temperate giants and explore their influence on the mass-metallicity correlation of giant planets giving us insights on their formation pathways.

Fecha y lugar: 06/03/2026 – 13:00 | Salón de Actos
Solène Ulmer-Moll
Leiden Obseratory