TOI-5205b: A Short-period Jovian Planet Transiting a Mid-M Dwarf

We present the discovery of TOI-5205b, a transiting Jovian planet orbiting a solar metallicity M4V star, which was discovered using Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometry and then confirmed using a combination of precise radial velocities, ground-based photometry, spectra, and speckle imaging. TOI-5205b has one of the highest mass ratios for M-dwarf planets, with a mass ratio of almost 0.3%, as it orbits a host star that is just 0.392 +/- 0.015 M (circle dot). Its planetary radius is 1.03 +/- 0.03 R (J), while the mass is 1.08 +/- 0.06 M (J). Additionally, the large size of the planet orbiting a small star results in a transit depth of similar to 7%, making it one of the deepest transits of a confirmed exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star. The large transit depth makes TOI-5205b a compelling target to probe its atmospheric properties, as a means of tracing the potential formation pathways. While there have been radial-velocity-only discoveries of giant planets around mid-M dwarfs, this is the first transiting Jupiter with a mass measurement discovered around such a low-mass host star. The high mass of TOI-5205b stretches conventional theories of planet formation and disk scaling relations that cannot easily recreate the conditions required to form such planets.

Automated summary

We report the discovery of TOI-5205b, a transiting Jovian planet orbiting a solar metallicity M4V star. It has one of the highest mass ratios for M-dwarf planets, and its large size results in one of the deepest transits of a confirmed exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star. TOI-5205b's high mass challenges conventional theories of planet formation and disk scaling relations.