A team of 37 researchers has reported the confirmation and characterization of two Jupiter-sized exoplanets, TOI-2147 b and TOI-6019 b, both of which were initially identified as planet candidates by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). In a paper posted to arXiv on June 18, 2026, the authors describe how they combined TESS photometry with a suite of ground-based follow-up observations to establish that the two transit signals correspond to real, planetary-mass companions rather than astrophysical false positives. Both objects fall into the category the authors label warm Jupiters: Jupiter-sized planets with orbital periods between roughly 10 and 200 days.

The paper states that this population spans a wide range of orbital eccentricities and system architectures. According to the authors, that diversity points to more than one possible formation and migration history. The two systems described here are placed within that framing as examples of eccentric warm Jupiters whose measured properties the team interprets in the context of how such planets reach their present orbits.

"The population of Jupiter-sized exoplanets with orbital periods between 10 and 200 days (WJs) exhibits a broad range of orbital eccentricities and system architectures, suggesting a diversity of formation and migration pathways."— Thomas et al., arXiv:2606.20224, source

To move both candidates from “candidate” to “confirmed,” the team assembled several independent data sets. Alongside the TESS light curves, the paper lists multiband photometry from the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) network and the MuSCAT2 imager, high-angular-resolution speckle imaging, and high-precision radial velocity measurements from the Manfred Hirt Planet Finder Spectrograph (MaHPS). The radial velocities are the measurement that supplies a mass: by tracking the small reflex motion of each host star, the team reports a dynamical mass for each planet rather than a radius alone. The speckle imaging serves a complementary role, checking for nearby stars whose blended light could mimic or dilute a transit signal.

What the two planets look like

The reported parameters distinguish the two planets despite their shared classification. TOI-2147 b has a radius of 10.5 ± 0.3 Earth radii and a mass of 116 ± 22 Earth masses, according to the paper. It orbits a G-type host star the authors describe as slightly metal-poor, with an iron abundance [Fe/H] of −0.29, on an orbit of 26.2 days and an eccentricity of 0.29 ± 0.07. TOI-6019 b is reported as larger and more massive: a radius of 12.3 ± 0.3 Earth radii and a mass of 149 ± 15 Earth masses. Its host is described as a slightly evolved, solar-metallicity G-type sub-giant, and its 14.5-day orbit is reported with an eccentricity of 0.48, the more eccentric of the two.

For readers used to Solar System units, both radii sit near Jupiter's own size of about 11.2 Earth radii, while the masses are below Jupiter's mass of roughly 318 Earth masses. The combination matters because mass and radius together yield a bulk density. The authors state that both planets have bulk densities below that of Jupiter, which they describe as indicating mildly inflated radii. In other words, each planet occupies more volume than its mass alone would suggest if it had a Jupiter-like density.

How the team interprets the measurements

The paper connects that inflation to the orbits the team measured. Using interior structure modeling with a tool the authors name as GASTLI, the paper states that tidal heating from the nonzero eccentricities likely contributes to the inflated radii. The same modeling, according to the authors, disfavors large atmospheric metal enrichment for the two planets. The reasoning links the observed orbital shape to the planets' interiors: an eccentric orbit periodically flexes a planet, depositing heat that can keep the gas envelope puffed up relative to a planet on a circular orbit at the same distance.

The authors also report what they did not find. The paper states that no significant signals from additional companions were detected in either the radial velocity time series or in transit timing variations. Transit timing variations are small shifts in when a planet crosses its star, which can betray the gravitational tug of an unseen second planet; their absence here is reported as a non-detection rather than proof that no other planets exist. Taken together with the elevated eccentricities, the paper states that this is consistent with a high-eccentricity migration origin for both systems—a scenario in which a planet is thrown onto a stretched orbit and gradually circularizes, rather than spiraling in smoothly through a gas disk.

It is worth separating what each instrument in the chain actually contributes, because the confirmation rests on the combination rather than any single data set. TESS supplies the transit detection and the orbital period: the satellite watches a star brighten and dim, and the depth of each dip scales with the planet's size relative to its host. That depth, on its own, yields a radius but says nothing about mass, and a dimming of the right shape can also be produced by a faint eclipsing binary blended into the same pixel. The speckle imaging the authors list is the check against that scenario, resolving the immediate neighborhood of each star at high angular resolution to rule out a contaminating companion. The MaHPS radial velocities then supply the mass by measuring the star's reflex wobble, and the multiband photometry from LCOGT and MuSCAT2 confirms that the transit depth does not change with wavelength in the way a stellar blend would. Only with all four in hand do the authors describe the candidates as confirmed.

The metallicities the paper reports for the two host stars are part of the characterization rather than incidental detail. TOI-2147 is described as slightly metal-poor at [Fe/H] = −0.29, while TOI-6019 is reported at solar metallicity and as a slightly evolved sub-giant—a star that has begun to expand off the main sequence. Host-star metallicity and evolutionary state feed into the stellar models the team uses to pin down each star's radius and mass, which in turn set the absolute scale of the planet parameters derived from the transit and radial-velocity data. The authors' interior modeling, which they state disfavors large atmospheric metal enrichment for the planets, draws on these stellar properties together with the measured planetary mass, radius and eccentricity.

The two confirmations add to the catalog of warm Jupiters with both measured masses and measured eccentricities, the data combination the authors use to ground their discussion of formation pathways. The paper, titled “TOI-2147 b and TOI-6019 b: Two eccentric warm Jupiters detected and characterized with TESS and MaHPS,” is led by Luis Thomas with co-authors including Louise D. Nielsen and Hanna Kellermann, and is available as a preprint on arXiv. As with any preprint, the reported values are those stated by the authors at submission; the canonical record below links to the full text and figures.