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Description
We report the detection of a Saturn-size exoplanet orbiting HD332231 (TOI1456) in light curves from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). HD332231 an F8 dwarf star with a V-band magnitude of 8.56 was observed by TESS in Sectors 14 and 15. We detect a single-transit event in the Sector 15 presearch data conditioning (PDC) light curve. We obtain spectroscopic follow up observations of HD332231 with the Automated Planet Finder (APF), Keck I, and Spatial Observations Network Group (SONG) telescopes. The orbital period we infer from radial velocity (RV) observations leads to the discovery of another transit in Sector 14 that was masked by PDC due to scattered light contamination. A joint analysis of the transit and RV data confirms the planetary nature of HD332231b, a Saturn-size (0.867_-0.025_^+0.027^R_J_), sub-Saturn-mass (0.244{+/-}0.021M_J_) exoplanet on a 18.71day circular orbit. The low surface gravity of HD332231b and the relatively low stellar flux it receives make it a compelling target for transmission spectroscopy. Also, the stellar obliquity is likely measurable via the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, an exciting prospect given the 0.14au orbital separation of HD332231b. The spectroscopic observations do not provide substantial evidence for any additional planets in the HD332231 system, but continued RV monitoring is needed to further characterize this system. We also predict that the frequency and duration of masked data in the PDC light curves for TESS Sectors 14-16 could hide transits of some exoplanets with orbital periods between 10.5 and 17.5days.
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