TOI-1338 b

TOI-1338 b is located 1,318 light years away from Earth. It has a radius 6.9 times that of Earth, and a mass roughly 11.3 times that of Earth. and Jupiter Cukier has stated that the planet could not contain life, as it is too hot, with its orbital period being close to that of Mercury. The planet orbits 2 stars, TOI-1338 A and TOI-1338 B, which closely orbit each other, making the planet circumbinary. Due to its circumbinary properties, Cukier has compared it to the fictional Star Wars planet of Tatooine, which also orbits 2 stars. == Discovery ==

Wolf Cukier, a 17-year-old attending Scarsdale High School in New York at the time, joined the Goddard Space Flight Center in 2019 to work as a summer intern. While studying data that was flagged as an eclipsing binary (provided by volunteers of the Planet Hunters citizen science project), he found the planet on his third day of interning. Its discovery was announced on 6 January at the 235th American Astronomical Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. He and 6 other volunteers later co-authored a publication about the planet. The discovery of TOI-1338 c, a planet in the same system, was announced in 2023, about 4 years after TOI-1338 b was discovered. == Nomenclature ==

The initialism "TOI" in the planet's name stands for "TESS Objects of Interest." SOPHIE renaming petition In February 2021, a petition was launched calling for the planet to be renamed SOPHIE in honor of late Scottish musician Sophie. The petition was supported by Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek. It was unsuccessful in officially renaming the planet, however the International Astronomical Union announced that the minor planet List of minor planets: 10001–11000#026| would be given the permanent name Sophiexeon in June 2021. == See also ==