Project Gallery 2023

Jalapenos papricky

 Best Project Prize Winner
Gymnázium Brno, Slovanské náměstí, příspěvková organizace  Brno – Brno    Czech Republic 16 years old, 15 years old   4 / 1

TOI-560c

TOI-560c project description:

For our project we have decided to focus on gathering as much information as possible about both TOI-560c and its host star TOI-560. As well as calculating suggested and additional factors, we have also theorized about TOI-560c’s composition and analysed how its temperature might be useful to people.

TOI-560c Results and Analysis

TOI-560c overview

In this project we will be discussing the behaviour of exoplanet TOI-560c. We will try to analyse its movement patterns, gather data about its star TOI-560 and discuss how different factors help to classify types of exoplanets. Further information and calculations can be found on our website.

What is an exoplanet

Exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside of our solar system. Celestial object TOI-560c is an exoplanet.
Up to date, there have been more than 5,000 exoplanets observed and classified, with thousands more unconfirmed.There are numerous methods of searching for exoplanets such as transit photometry and the radial-velocity method.

Size of an exoplanet

We were able to determine that the exoplanet TOI-560c has a radius roughly 2.384 times bigger than that of Earth. It is considered a “Mini-Neptune” type exoplanet.

Using the data from CHEOPS we have estimated the transit depth to be 0.12%, using it to determine the planet’s radius.

Our result was a radius of 2.252 REARTH, which is only 0.132 REARTH off of CHEOPS’s observations. 

Orbital period

Same as other celestial objects with defined orbit, exoplanets also have a set orbital period, defined as the time in which an exoplanet makes one orbit around its host star. TOI-560c orbital period is 18,88 days.

Orbital distance

Orbital distance states how far from its star does the exoplanet orbit. TOI-560c has orbital distance of 18,73 * 106 km2.

Based on an adjusted version of the Kepler’s third law, we determined the distance between TOI-560c and its host star: 1.873×107 km2

Temperature

Temperature is one of the main factors affecting an exoplanet’s habitability. To be habitable, an exoplanet needs to orbit in a “habitable zone”. In this set distance water can be found in liquid state. Because of its high temperature of approximately 225 degrees celsius, TOI-560c lies outside of the habitable zone.

Density

Density of TOI-560c could indicate that it has a slim atmosphere composed of lighter gases, such as Hydrogen or Helium, covering a relatively small rocky core.

We have calculated the density of TOI-560c: 3,9469 g/cm3

Radiant flux near TOI-560c

Based on our calculations, TOI-560c orbits close to its star TOI-560. Even though TOI-560 is an orange dwarf smaller and cooler than Sun, TOI-560c’s proximity to it assures strong radiant flux on TOI-560c’s surface. In fact, this radiant flux would be 10 times stronger than it is on Earth. If we were to theoretically send a space probe or some other spacecraft, we can rely on an easily accessible power source using solar energy.

To better understand TOI-560c’s behaviour we have decided to calculate the power radiated by its host star using the Stefan-Boltzmann’s law: 6.074×1025 W, which is about 5 times smaller than that of the Sun. 

With that information we calculated the power which reaches TOI-560c’s orbit: 13,779 W/m2, which is about 10 times greater than the radiant flux that reaches Earth.

Orbital speed and escape velocity

Both orbital speed and escape velocity of TOI-560c are about 4 times greater than those of Earth.

Rough orbital speed of TOI-560c is 15,949.92 m/s and its escape velocity is 22,556 m/s.

Composition

Based on our research, we are unsure if TOI-560c will in the future be classified as “Mini-Neptune” or “Super-Earth” type. It could possibly be similar to its neighbouring exoplanet TOI-560b, a Mini-Neptune slowly losing its atmosphere due to solar winds and becoming a Super-Earth type exoplanet. Our calculations have shown that TOI-560c could have a Super-Earth like core covered by an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.
TOI-560b is one of 4 Mini-Neptunes observed by NASA that show slow transformation to Super-Earths. Due to solar winds, these exoplanets slowly lose their atmospheres, leaving only rocky cores. These remnants are then classified as Super-Earths. After this discovery a theory was proposed that all or most Mini-Neptunes have a Super-Earth like core. We have decided to try to find out if such composition could be possible. For this we calculated the density our theoretical model would have and compared it to TOI-560c’s density. The model consists of a typical Super-Earth like rocky core of a radius of 1 REARTH and the density of 5,51 g/cm3. and a layer with the density of a gas, which consists of 80% hydrogen and 20% helium. The latter was estimated to have a density of about 0,10772 kg/m3. With this we get a theoretical density of the modal of 4.068 g/cm3, which is very similar to the real density of TOI-560c. Therefore, we believe this theory to be possible. 

TOI-560c Conclusions

TOI-560c is a fascinating exoplanet, orbiting its star TOI-560. We were able to extract a wide range of valuable data, such as its density, radiant flux, orbital distance or orbital period. Both TOI-560c and TOI-560b are important objects of interest, showing signs of transformation from Mini-Neptune type to Super-Earth type. If we were able to acquire data from spectroscopy, we might be able to further study these exoplanets and extract additional data.

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