Overview
- TIC 120362137 was flagged in 2019–2024 TESS data as a triply eclipsing triple whose eclipse-timing variations pointed to a fourth star.
- Measured periods place the inner binary at 3.28 days, the third star at 51.3 days, and the outer companion at 1,045.5 days, the shortest recorded outer orbit for a 3+1 quadruple.
- The inner trio fits within a Mercury-scale region and the fourth orbits near a Jupiter-like scale, with separated spectra yielding masses of roughly 1.75, 1.36, 1.48, and about 1.0 solar masses.
- Dynamical analyses indicate the architecture is currently stable, based on period ratios and numerical simulations.
- Evolution models project inner mergers and a final double white-dwarf binary with an orbital period near 44 days, though reports conflict on the timescale and even on whether the study appears in Nature or Nature Communications.