The Discovery of K2-232c: Divergent Formation Histories for Hot and Warm Jupiters Based on Outer Companion Eccentricity
Abstract
Ever since their discovery, hot Jupiters have been one of the most studied types of exoplanets to exist thanks to their significant size, their proximity to their host star, and their significant departure from anything present in our solar system. Yet, the details of their formation and evolution remain unclear, including their connection, if any, to the wider-orbiting warm Jupiter population. In this work, we present the discovery of K2-232c, an eccentric cold Jupiter (P = 1950 +140−120 days, e=0.352+0.095−0.076, Msini = 5.31+0.48−0.45 MJup) companion in a known warm Jupiter (P = 11.1684377 ± 0.0000010 days, e=0.245+0.023−0.024, M = 0.427+0.039−0.036 MJup) system. Placing this system in context with the literature, we find that cold Jupiter eccentricities are generally higher in hot Jupiter systems as compared to warm Jupiter systems, suggesting the formation of hot Jupiters is more dynamically violent than warm Jupiters. This adds further evidence to the claim that these two populations are independent from one another with cold Jupiters appearing to play a crucial role in shaping the formation of both.
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BibTeX
@misc{ranshaw2026discovery,
title = {{The Discovery of K2-232c: Divergent Formation Histories for Hot and Warm Jupiters Based on Outer Companion Eccentricity}},
author = {Jessica A. Ranshaw and Xian-Yu Wang and Jennifer A. Burt and Juan I. Espinoza-Retamal and Brandon T. Radzom and R. Paul Butler and Bradford P. Holden and Steven S. Vogt and Songhu Wang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.09077},
eprint = {2609.09077},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09077},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Discovery of K2-232c: Divergent Formation Histories for Hot and Warm Jupiters Based on Outer Companion Eccentricity
AU - Jessica A. Ranshaw
AU - Xian-Yu Wang
AU - Jennifer A. Burt
AU - Juan I. Espinoza-Retamal
AU - Brandon T. Radzom
AU - R. Paul Butler
AU - Bradford P. Holden
AU - Steven S. Vogt
AU - Songhu Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.09077
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.09077
AB - Ever since their discovery, hot Jupiters have been one of the most studied types of exoplanets to exist thanks to their significant size, their proximity to their host star, and their significant departure from anything present in our solar system. Yet, the details of their formation and evolution remain unclear, including their connection, if any, to the wider-orbiting warm Jupiter population. In this work, we present the discovery of K2-232c, an eccentric cold Jupiter (P = 1950 ^+140_−120 days, e=0.352^+0.095_−0.076, Msini = 5.31^+0.48_−0.45 M_Jup) companion in a known warm Jupiter (P = 11.1684377 ± 0.0000010 days, e=0.245^+0.023_−0.024, M = 0.427^+0.039_−0.036 M_Jup) system. Placing this system in context with the literature, we find that cold Jupiter eccentricities are generally higher in hot Jupiter systems as compared to warm Jupiter systems, suggesting the formation of hot Jupiters is more dynamically violent than warm Jupiters. This adds further evidence to the claim that these two populations are independent from one another with cold Jupiters appearing to play a crucial role in shaping the formation of both.
ER -