About this world
TOI-1438 b is a sub-Neptune orbiting TOI-1438, an orange dwarf (type K0V) 360 light-years from Earth. It is about 3 times the size of Earth and holds 9.4 Earth masses. It completes an orbit every 5.14 days at 0.055 AU from its star, closer than Mercury is to the Sun.
Its equilibrium temperature is about 971 K (698 °C): far too hot for liquid water on its surface. At its size it almost certainly keeps a deep envelope of hydrogen and helium.
It was discovered in 2025 by transit with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). A planet crosses its star and dims it by a tiny, periodic fraction. TOI-1438 has 2 known planets; the others are TOI-1438 c.