K2-33b (also known by its EPIC designation EPIC 205117205.01) is a very young super-Neptune exoplanet, orbiting the pre-main-sequence star K2-33. It was discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft on its "Second Light" mission. It is located about 456 light-years (140 parsecs) away from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius. The exoplanet was found by using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured.
Among known exoplanets, K2-33b is considered extremely young − a mere 9.3 million years old. Only one other exoplanet is younger, with an age of 2 Myr (V830 Tau b).
Physical characteristics
Mass, radius, and temperature
K2-33b is a super-Neptune, an exoplanet that has a mass and radius larger than that of Neptune. It has an equilibrium temperature of . It has a radius of 5.04 . While the exoplanet's mass hasn't been constrained yet, upper estimates place a mass of 3.6 .
Atmosphere
By 2022, the atmosphere of K2-33b was found to be hazy, without any noticeable molecular bands in transmission spectrum. Given the planetary radius and temperature, atmosphere is likely to contain an abundant carbon monoxide and dense tholin haze.
Host star
The planet orbits an (M-type) pre-main-sequence star named K2-33. The star has a mass of 0.54 and a radius of 1.05 . It has a surface temperature of 3540 K and is 9.3 million years old. In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old and has a surface temperature of 5778 K. It has about the same amount of metals as the Sun, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of 0. Its luminosity () is 15% that of the Sun.
The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 14.3. Therefore, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
Orbit
K2-33b orbits its host star with an orbital period of 5.424 days at a distance of 0.049 AU (compared to the distance of Mercury from the Sun, which is about 0.38 AU). The planet likely receives about 125 times as much sunlight that Earth does from the Sun.
Age and formation
The planet is best known for its remarkably young age, which is estimated to be about 9.3 million years. Given this age, the planetary system most likely formed back near the end of the Miocene epoch of the Earth's history. Observations made on the planet confirmed that it was in fact a fully formed exoplanet, not just a protoplanet that was still in the stages of developing. The mass and radius of the exoplanet further help constrain this statement.
K2-33b is the youngest confirmed transiting exoplanet. There are relatively few other exoplanets discovered to date with an age this young, all of which are non-transiting (with some that were detected around the hot A-type and B-type stars, such as HD 95086 and HIP 78530, however these could just be brown dwarfs due to their mass). The hot Jupiter exoplanet V830 Tau b, published in the same issue of the journal Nature as the discovery of K2-33b, is the youngest known exoplanet with an age of around 2 million years (around the time that humans evolved on Earth).
The discoveries of K2-33b and V830 Tau b are most notable for explaining how close-in planets form, an open question in the field of exoplanets since the discovery of the first exoplanet, 51 Pegasi b, in 1995. Given the young ages of these exoplanets, several theories of planetary migration can be ruled out because they take too long to form close-in planets. The most plausible formation scenario for K2-33b is that it formed further away from its star, then migrated inwards through the protoplanetary disk, although it remains a possibility that the planet formed in place. Trevor David of Caltech in Pasadena stated on the discovery of the exoplanet "The question we are answering is: Did those planets take a long time to get into those hot orbits, or could they have been there from a very early stage? We are saying, at least in this one case, that they can indeed be there at a very early stage."
Understanding the young ages of such exoplanets may eventually help to lead scientists on how planetary formation works and provide some clues on the origin of the Solar System and other such planetary systems discovered.