Researchers from the Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, have contributed to an international study of the young exoplanetary system TOI-201. The discovery provides new insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems, and the results have been published in the prestigious journal Nature.
The TOI-201 system, located approximately 365 light-years from Earth, consists of two planets and a brown dwarf on a distant orbit. Their unusual orbital architecture offers astronomers a unique opportunity to study the turbulent processes that shaped this planetary system around one billion years ago.
Researchers from the Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Masaryk University participated in the study as members of the international consortium operating the PLATOSpec high-resolution spectrograph. Installed on the 1.52-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, the instrument provided the high-precision spectroscopic observations that were essential for characterising the system's second planet.
"Masaryk University has been part of the PLATOSpec consortium since its very beginning. This gives us access to outstanding spectroscopic data that support our research on a wide range of astronomical objects, including the TOI-201 system. The data are also extensively used by our students in their bachelor's, master's and doctoral theses," says Jan Janík from the Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, who leads the project on behalf of the university.
In addition to the two known planets, the researchers identified a brown dwarf with a mass of about sixteen times that of Jupiter. Orbiting its host star every 7.9 years, it is the most distant transiting brown dwarf discovered to date. The orbital configuration of the brown dwarf and the two planets indicates that the system experienced a highly dynamic evolutionary history during its earliest stages.
The international research team was led by Matías Jones of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The Czech contribution was carried out within the PLATOSpec consortium, coordinated by the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, of which Masaryk University has been a long-standing partner.
The study highlights the importance of the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University as an active partner in international astronomical research infrastructures. Access to world-class observational facilities not only enables participation in high-impact scientific discoveries but also provides valuable opportunities for educating the next generation of astronomers and astrophysicists.
Link to the publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10586-5
PLATOSpec spectrograph: https://stel.asu.cas.cz/cs/dalekohled-e152/spektrograf-platospec/
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