Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging

Corey Beard; Paul Robertson; Jack Lubin; Eric B. Ford; Suvrath Mahadevan; Gudmundur Stefansson; Jason T. Wright; Eric Wolf; Vincent Kofman; Vidya Venkatesan; Ravi Kopparapu; Roan Arendtsz; Rae Holcomb; Raquel A. Martinez; Stephanie Sallum; Jacob K. Luhn; Chad F. Bender; Cullen H. Blake; William D. Cochran; Megan Delamer; Scott A. Diddams; Michael Endl; Samuel Halverson; Shubham Kanodia; Daniel M. Krolikowski; Andrea S. J. Lin; Sarah E. Logsdon; Michael W. McElwain; Andrew Monson; Joe P. Ninan; Jayadev Rajagopal; Arpita Roy; Christian Schwab; Ryan C. Terrien

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20

Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging

Corey Beard^*, Paul Robertson, Jack Lubin, Eric B. Ford, Suvrath Mahadevan, Gudmundur Stefansson, Jason T. Wright, Eric Wolf, Vincent Kofman, Vidya Venkatesan, Ravi Kopparapu, Roan Arendtsz, Rae Holcomb, Raquel A. Martinez, Stephanie Sallum, Jacob K. Luhn, Chad F. Bender, Cullen H. Blake, William D. Cochran, Megan DelamerScott A. Diddams, Michael Endl, Samuel Halverson, Shubham Kanodia, Daniel M. Krolikowski, Andrea S. J. Lin, Sarah E. Logsdon, Michael W. McElwain, Andrew Monson, Joe P. Ninan, Jayadev Rajagopal, Arpita Roy, Christian Schwab, Ryan C. Terrien

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

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Abstract

We present the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of its M dwarf host star. Using high-precision Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID RVs, in onjunction with archival RVs from the Keck I High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, the Calar Alto High-resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrograph, and the Spectropolarimétre Infrarouge, we improve the measured parameters of the known planet, GJ 251 b (P_b = 14.2370 days; m sin(i) = 3.85_-0.33^+0.35 M_⊕), and we significantly constrain the minimum mass of GJ 251 c, placing it in a plausibly terrestrial regime (P_c = 53.647 ± 0.044 days; m sin i_c = 3.84 ± 0.75 M_⊕). Using activity mitigation techniques that leverage chromatic information content, we perform a color-dependent analysis of the system and a detailed comparison of more than 50 models that describe the nature of the planets and stellar activity in the system. Due to GJ 251’s proximity to Earth (5.5 pc), next generation, 30 meter class telescopes will likely be able to image terrestrial planets in GJ 251’s HZ. In fact, GJ 251 c is currently the best candidate for terrestrial, HZ planet imaging in the northern sky.

Original language	English
Article number	279
Pages (from-to)	1-27
Number of pages	27
Journal	Astronomical Journal
Volume	170
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20
Publication status	Published - 3 Nov 2025

Bibliographical note

© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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Beard, C., Robertson, P., Lubin, J., Ford, E. B., Mahadevan, S., Stefansson, G., Wright, J. T., Wolf, E., Kofman, V., Venkatesan, V., Kopparapu, R., Arendtsz, R., Holcomb, R., Martinez, R. A., Sallum, S., Luhn, J. K., Bender, C. F., Blake, C. H., Cochran, W. D., ... Terrien, R. C. (2025). Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging. Astronomical Journal, 170(5), 1-27. Article 279. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20

@article{9641daabb9524f01a4eddc21927d2dd6,

title = "Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging",

abstract = "We present the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of its M dwarf host star. Using high-precision Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID RVs, in onjunction with archival RVs from the Keck I High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, the Calar Alto High-resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrograph, and the Spectropolarim{\'e}tre Infrarouge, we improve the measured parameters of the known planet, GJ 251 b (Pb = 14.2370 days; m sin(i) = 3.85-0.33+0.35 M⊕), and we significantly constrain the minimum mass of GJ 251 c, placing it in a plausibly terrestrial regime (Pc = 53.647 ± 0.044 days; m sin ic = 3.84 ± 0.75 M⊕). Using activity mitigation techniques that leverage chromatic information content, we perform a color-dependent analysis of the system and a detailed comparison of more than 50 models that describe the nature of the planets and stellar activity in the system. Due to GJ 251{\textquoteright}s proximity to Earth (5.5 pc), next generation, 30 meter class telescopes will likely be able to image terrestrial planets in GJ 251{\textquoteright}s HZ. In fact, GJ 251 c is currently the best candidate for terrestrial, HZ planet imaging in the northern sky.",

author = "Corey Beard and Paul Robertson and Jack Lubin and Ford, \{Eric B.\} and Suvrath Mahadevan and Gudmundur Stefansson and Wright, \{Jason T.\} and Eric Wolf and Vincent Kofman and Vidya Venkatesan and Ravi Kopparapu and Roan Arendtsz and Rae Holcomb and Martinez, \{Raquel A.\} and Stephanie Sallum and Luhn, \{Jacob K.\} and Bender, \{Chad F.\} and Blake, \{Cullen H.\} and Cochran, \{William D.\} and Megan Delamer and Diddams, \{Scott A.\} and Michael Endl and Samuel Halverson and Shubham Kanodia and Krolikowski, \{Daniel M.\} and Lin, \{Andrea S. J.\} and Logsdon, \{Sarah E.\} and McElwain, \{Michael W.\} and Andrew Monson and Ninan, \{Joe P.\} and Jayadev Rajagopal and Arpita Roy and Christian Schwab and Terrien, \{Ryan C.\}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2025",

month = nov,

day = "3",

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20",

language = "English",

volume = "170",

pages = "1--27",

journal = "Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "5",

}

Beard, C, Robertson, P, Lubin, J, Ford, EB, Mahadevan, S, Stefansson, G, Wright, JT, Wolf, E, Kofman, V, Venkatesan, V, Kopparapu, R, Arendtsz, R, Holcomb, R, Martinez, RA, Sallum, S, Luhn, JK, Bender, CF, Blake, CH, Cochran, WD, Delamer, M, Diddams, SA, Endl, M, Halverson, S, Kanodia, S, Krolikowski, DM, Lin, ASJ, Logsdon, SE, McElwain, MW, Monson, A, Ninan, JP, Rajagopal, J, Roy, A, Schwab, C & Terrien, RC 2025, 'Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging', Astronomical Journal, vol. 170, no. 5, 279, pp. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20

TY - JOUR

T1 - Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging

AU - Beard, Corey

AU - Robertson, Paul

AU - Lubin, Jack

AU - Ford, Eric B.

AU - Mahadevan, Suvrath

AU - Stefansson, Gudmundur

AU - Wright, Jason T.

AU - Wolf, Eric

AU - Kofman, Vincent

AU - Venkatesan, Vidya

AU - Kopparapu, Ravi

AU - Arendtsz, Roan

AU - Holcomb, Rae

AU - Martinez, Raquel A.

AU - Sallum, Stephanie

AU - Luhn, Jacob K.

AU - Bender, Chad F.

AU - Blake, Cullen H.

AU - Cochran, William D.

AU - Delamer, Megan

AU - Diddams, Scott A.

AU - Endl, Michael

AU - Halverson, Samuel

AU - Kanodia, Shubham

AU - Krolikowski, Daniel M.

AU - Lin, Andrea S. J.

AU - Logsdon, Sarah E.

AU - McElwain, Michael W.

AU - Monson, Andrew

AU - Ninan, Joe P.

AU - Rajagopal, Jayadev

AU - Roy, Arpita

AU - Schwab, Christian

AU - Terrien, Ryan C.

N1 - © 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2025/11/3

Y1 - 2025/11/3

N2 - We present the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of its M dwarf host star. Using high-precision Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID RVs, in onjunction with archival RVs from the Keck I High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, the Calar Alto High-resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrograph, and the Spectropolarimétre Infrarouge, we improve the measured parameters of the known planet, GJ 251 b (Pb = 14.2370 days; m sin(i) = 3.85-0.33+0.35 M⊕), and we significantly constrain the minimum mass of GJ 251 c, placing it in a plausibly terrestrial regime (Pc = 53.647 ± 0.044 days; m sin ic = 3.84 ± 0.75 M⊕). Using activity mitigation techniques that leverage chromatic information content, we perform a color-dependent analysis of the system and a detailed comparison of more than 50 models that describe the nature of the planets and stellar activity in the system. Due to GJ 251’s proximity to Earth (5.5 pc), next generation, 30 meter class telescopes will likely be able to image terrestrial planets in GJ 251’s HZ. In fact, GJ 251 c is currently the best candidate for terrestrial, HZ planet imaging in the northern sky.

AB - We present the discovery of GJ 251 c, a candidate super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of its M dwarf host star. Using high-precision Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID RVs, in onjunction with archival RVs from the Keck I High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer, the Calar Alto High-resolution Search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrograph, and the Spectropolarimétre Infrarouge, we improve the measured parameters of the known planet, GJ 251 b (Pb = 14.2370 days; m sin(i) = 3.85-0.33+0.35 M⊕), and we significantly constrain the minimum mass of GJ 251 c, placing it in a plausibly terrestrial regime (Pc = 53.647 ± 0.044 days; m sin ic = 3.84 ± 0.75 M⊕). Using activity mitigation techniques that leverage chromatic information content, we perform a color-dependent analysis of the system and a detailed comparison of more than 50 models that describe the nature of the planets and stellar activity in the system. Due to GJ 251’s proximity to Earth (5.5 pc), next generation, 30 meter class telescopes will likely be able to image terrestrial planets in GJ 251’s HZ. In fact, GJ 251 c is currently the best candidate for terrestrial, HZ planet imaging in the northern sky.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019768885

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/ae0e20

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105019768885

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 170

SP - 1

EP - 27

JO - Astronomical Journal

JF - Astronomical Journal

IS - 5

M1 - 279

ER -

Discovery of a nearby habitable zone super-Earth candidate amenable to direct imaging

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