Long-period Transiting Exoplanets: Advances In Detection And Characterization

Most detected transiting planets have orbits which would fit within the one of Mercury, exposing them to intense stellar irradiation and interactions that significantly alter their properties.

In contrast, colder planets with longer orbital periods are less affected, offering crucial insights into their formation and migration histories. Characterizing transiting warm and temperate planets is a key missing piece in the exoplanet puzzle.

Dedicated photometric and spectroscopic follow-up of transiting events detected in space-based photometric data opened the way to detecting long-period transiting exoplanets. The wealth of information available for these transiting planets makes them golden targets for in-depth characterization.

For giant planets, combining precise masses, radii, and ages with state-of-the-art planetary evolution models allows the estimation of their planetary bulk compositions, a crucial element to explore their formation and evolution pathways.

Furthermore, these planets are compelling candidates for hosting moons and circumplanetary rings-features that could illuminate dynamical histories, satellite formation processes, and even potential habitable environments.

Solène Ulmer-Moll, Babatunde Akinsanmi, Simon Müller

Comments: Chapter accepted for publication in the NCCR PlanetS Legacy Book: Benz, W. et al. (Eds), The National Center for Competence in Research, PlanetS: A Swiss-wide network expanding planetary sciences. Springer (2026), 26 pages, 3 figures
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2604.09254 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2604.09254v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.09254
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Submission history
From: Solène Ulmer-Moll
[v1] Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:09:10 UTC (908 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09254
Astrobiology, Astronomy, exoplanet,