The measurement of the spin-orbit obliquity, that is, the angle between the orbital axis of a planet and the stellar spin axis, provides crucial insights into how planets form and migrate. Observations of young transiting planets, which have not yet experienced significant tidal alterations, offer a unique opportunity to study the planets’ original obliquity configuration. We observed the warm Saturn-sized TOI-837 b (member of the 35 Myr old open cluster IC 2602) in transit using ESPRESSO at VLT, collecting high-precision radial velocities to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. We found a sky-projected obliquity of λ = 341.1−2.5+2.3 deg. Using our knowledge of the stellar rotation period (3.00 ± 0.02 d), we estimated a true obliquity of ψ = 25.9−6.3+7.5 deg, which indicates prograde motion and suggests a mildly misaligned orbit. This places TOI-837 b as the first planet younger than 100 Myr with accessible ψ incompatible with an aligned orbit. Together with the primordial circular orbit of TOI-837 b and the presence of a bound stellar companion, this mild misalignment favours the possibility of a primordial obliquity excitation (secular torque on the protoplanetary disc) followed by disc-driven migration, rather than high-eccentricity migration after formation.
The 35 Myr old infant planet TOI-837 b has a mildly misaligned orbit
Malavolta, L.;Marzari, F.;Nardiello, D.;Benatti, S.;
2026
Abstract
The measurement of the spin-orbit obliquity, that is, the angle between the orbital axis of a planet and the stellar spin axis, provides crucial insights into how planets form and migrate. Observations of young transiting planets, which have not yet experienced significant tidal alterations, offer a unique opportunity to study the planets’ original obliquity configuration. We observed the warm Saturn-sized TOI-837 b (member of the 35 Myr old open cluster IC 2602) in transit using ESPRESSO at VLT, collecting high-precision radial velocities to measure the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. We found a sky-projected obliquity of λ = 341.1−2.5+2.3 deg. Using our knowledge of the stellar rotation period (3.00 ± 0.02 d), we estimated a true obliquity of ψ = 25.9−6.3+7.5 deg, which indicates prograde motion and suggests a mildly misaligned orbit. This places TOI-837 b as the first planet younger than 100 Myr with accessible ψ incompatible with an aligned orbit. Together with the primordial circular orbit of TOI-837 b and the presence of a bound stellar companion, this mild misalignment favours the possibility of a primordial obliquity excitation (secular torque on the protoplanetary disc) followed by disc-driven migration, rather than high-eccentricity migration after formation.
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