About this world
TOI-3261 b is a sub-Neptune orbiting TOI-3261, an orange dwarf (type K1.5+/-) 979 light-years from Earth. It is about 3.8 times the size of Earth and holds 30 Earth masses. It completes an orbit every 21.2 hours at 0.017 AU from its star, closer than Mercury is to the Sun.
Its equilibrium temperature is about 1,722 K (1,449 °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 2024 by transit with Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). A planet crosses its star and dims it by a tiny, periodic fraction.