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TOLIMAN

TOLIMAN (Telescope for Orbit Locus Interferometric Monitoring of our Astronomical Neighbourhood) is a low-cost space telescope mission designed to detect Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zones of the Alpha Centauri star system, the closest star system to the Sun at 4.3 light-years away, using high-precision astrometry to measure subtle stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets.^[1]^[2] The mission, led by scientists at the University of Sydney's School of Physics, aims to identify rocky planets capable of supporting liquid water and potentially life by targeting the binary stars Alpha Centauri A and B, with plans to expand observations to other nearby Sun-like stars within 10 light-years.^[1]^[3] TOLIMAN employs innovative technology, including a compact 12.5 cm telescope equipped with a diffractive pupil optical mask that spreads starlight into a characteristic pattern for micro-arcsecond precision measurements, an embedded spectrometer to analyze starlight colors, and AI-powered data processing on a 16U CubeSat platform to detect planetary signals as small as 10⁻⁶ of a pixel.^[1]^[4] The spacecraft will operate in a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at approximately 550-600 km altitude for a three-year duration, downlinking data at high speeds to ground stations for analysis.^[1]^[5] Funded by Breakthrough Initiatives, the Australian Research Council, and SmartSat, the project involves key partners such as EnduroSat for satellite manufacturing, Saber Astronautics for operations, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for technical contributions, with construction and integration of the telescope nearing completion as of mid-2025.^[2]^[3]^[5] Launch is targeted for 2026, marking a significant advancement in small-satellite astrometry and potentially revolutionizing the search for habitable worlds in our stellar neighborhood.^[1]^[5]

Nomenclature

Etymology

The TOLIMAN space telescope is named after Toliman, the traditional name for Alpha Centauri B, the secondary star in the Alpha Centauri binary system. This naming honors the mission's focus on detecting exoplanets around Alpha Centauri A and B, the closest stars to the Sun.^[1]^[2] The star's name Toliman derives from the Arabic "aẓ-Ẓalīmān" (or in older transcription, "aṭ-Ṭhalīmān"), meaning "the two male ostriches," referring to an asterism in the Centaurus constellation that included Alpha Centauri. During the medieval period, Arabic astronomical nomenclature influenced European star naming, as Islamic scholars preserved ancient knowledge in star catalogs later translated into Latin. The term was Latinized in the 17th century by Dutch orientalist Jacob Golius as "Toliman" in his 1669 edition of Al-Farghani's astronomical compendium.^[6]^[7]

Designations and Names

For the star, Toliman holds the Bayer designation Alpha Centauri B, the fainter secondary in the visual binary system, following Johann Bayer's 1603 convention of assigning Greek letters by brightness. It is cataloged as HR 5460 in the Harvard Revised Photometry and HD 128621 in the Henry Draper Catalogue. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved "Toliman" as the proper name for Alpha Centauri B on August 10, 2018, via its Working Group on Star Names. The name is pronounced /ˈtɒlɪmən/. An alternative historical name, "Bungula," derives from Latin ungula, meaning "hoof," alluding to the star's position near the Centaur's forefoot.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Physical Properties

Stellar Parameters

Toliman, also known as Alpha Centauri B, is a main-sequence star with a mass of 0.91 ± 0.04 M⊙, determined from dynamical analysis of the binary orbit combined with spectroscopic data.^[11] Interferometric observations using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) have measured its radius as 0.863 ± 0.004 R⊙, providing a direct constraint on its physical size through angular diameter and parallax. The star's luminosity is 0.50 ± 0.01 L⊙, derived from integrating its spectral energy distribution with bolometric corrections applied to Hipparcos and Gaia photometry, where the bolometric correction in the V band is approximately -0.16 mag for its spectral type. The effective temperature of Toliman is 5260 K, consistent with its K1V classification and derived from fitting model atmospheres to high-resolution spectra and interferometric data.^[12] Its surface gravity is log g ≈ 4.54 (cgs units), calculated from the mass and radius using g = GM/R², which aligns with expectations for a star of its type on the main sequence. The age of Toliman is estimated at 4.85 Gyr, obtained through asteroseismic modeling that matches observed oscillation frequencies with stellar evolution tracks for the Alpha Centauri system. Toliman's apparent visual magnitude is 1.33, making it one of the brightest stars in the night sky, while its absolute visual magnitude is 5.71, reflecting its intrinsic brightness at a standard distance of 10 pc. These parameters position Toliman as a slightly evolved analog to younger K dwarfs, with its properties well-calibrated by the proximity of the system to Earth at 1.34 pc (parallax ≈747 mas, from Hipparcos and interferometric astrometry).^[12]

Spectrum and Activity

Toliman, classified as a K1V main-sequence star, exhibits a spectrum characteristic of orange dwarf stars, featuring prominent absorption lines from neutral metals such as iron, titanium, and calcium, along with molecular bands of titanium oxide that strengthen toward the blue end of the visible spectrum.^[13] The cores of the Ca II H and K lines at 3968 Å and 3933 Å show emission reversals, indicative of moderate chromospheric activity driven by magnetic heating.^[13] These features arise from the star's convective envelope, where dynamo processes generate magnetic fields that produce plage regions and faculae, similar to those observed on the Sun.^[14] The metallicity of Toliman is slightly super-solar, with an iron abundance of [Fe/H] = +0.23 ± 0.07, reflecting an overall enhancement in heavy elements relative to hydrogen compared to the Sun.^[15] This composition influences the opacity and line strengths in its spectrum, contributing to a slightly broader set of metallic absorption lines than in solar-type stars. The chromospheric activity level, quantified by the log R'_HK index (a measure of Ca II emission normalized to the star's bolometric luminosity), averages around -4.85, placing it in the moderate activity regime for K dwarfs and suggesting periodic magnetic cycles on timescales of approximately 8 years, as inferred from long-term monitoring of Ca II and Mg II emissions.^[14] Doppler imaging and photometric monitoring have yielded a rotation period of 35.4 ± 0.8 days for Toliman, during which variations in the Ca II H line profile reveal rotational modulation of active regions on the stellar surface.^[13] This period aligns with expectations for a star of its age and spectral type, where slower rotation correlates with reduced dynamo efficiency and thus moderate activity levels akin to those in solar-type stars exhibiting 11-year cycles.^[14]

Orbital Characteristics

Binary Orbit with Alpha Centauri A

Toliman, also known as Alpha Centauri B, orbits Alpha Centauri A in a close binary system with a period of 79.762 years, a semi-major axis of 23.52 AU, and an eccentricity of 0.5174, as determined from long-term visual orbit observations. The orbit's high eccentricity causes significant variation in separation, bringing the stars as close as 11.2 AU at periastron and as far as 35.6 AU at apastron. The orbital plane is inclined by 79.2° relative to the plane of the sky, which affects the projected angular separation observed from Earth. Refinements to the orbital elements have incorporated radial velocity measurements alongside visual data, with Pourbaix et al. (2002) providing a combined solution that yields a period of 79.91 ± 0.011 years, eccentricity of 0.5179 ± 0.00076, and semi-major axis of 23.52 AU (derived from 17.57 ± 0.022 arcseconds at a parallax of 747.1 ± 1.2 mas). This analysis achieves mass determinations with <1% precision, estimating Toliman's mass at 0.934 ± 0.0061 M⊙ and Alpha Centauri A's at 1.105 ± 0.0070 M⊙, implying a mass ratio of approximately 0.85 (MB/MA). The mass ratio and eccentric orbit have important implications for dynamical stability in the inner system, limiting stable circumstellar planetary orbits to regions within about 1.5–2.5 AU from either star, as the binary's configuration disrupts more distant orbits over gigayear timescales due to perturbations during close approaches.^[16] Such constraints arise from N-body simulations showing that the binary companion disrupts outer orbits, influencing prospects for habitable zones around both stars.^[16]

Motion Relative to Proxima Centauri

Toliman, as the secondary component of the Alpha Centauri AB binary, shares a wide orbit around the system's common center of mass with Proxima Centauri, forming a loosely bound triple stellar system. The orbital period of this outer orbit is approximately 550,000 years, with a semi-major axis of 8.7 × 10³ AU and an eccentricity of 0.50, placing the current separation near the apastron at about 13,000 AU.^[17] The inclination of Proxima's orbit relative to the AB pair is roughly 108°, indicating a retrograde motion that contributes to the system's long-term dynamical complexity.^[17] The proper motion of the Alpha Centauri AB barycenter, which Toliman follows closely, measures 3,686 mas/yr, comprising components of -3,620 mas/yr in right ascension and +694 mas/yr in declination.^[17] This high tangential velocity, combined with a radial velocity of -22.3 km/s for the AB barycenter, results in the triple system's overall space motion through the Galaxy.^[17] Proxima Centauri's proper motion differs slightly at -3,774 mas/yr in right ascension and +771 mas/yr in declination, with a radial velocity of -22.2 km/s, reflecting the subtle differential effects of their bound orbit.^[17] The triple system's barycenter lies approximately 730 AU from the AB barycenter, dominated by the combined mass of Alpha Centauri A and Toliman due to Proxima's lower mass of about 0.12 solar masses.^[17] N-body simulations of the Alpha Centauri triple system demonstrate its dynamical stability over gigayear timescales, with the orbit of Proxima remaining bound in 91% of modeled scenarios over the next 5 billion years under current Galactic conditions.^[18] These analyses account for perturbations from the Galactic tidal field and stellar encounters, revealing that the system's configuration—initially possibly captured from a denser stellar environment—exhibits stochastic variations in Proxima's eccentricity and semi-major axis.^[18] Over longer periods exceeding 7 billion years, the ejection probability rises to about 15%, influenced by the encounter rate with passing stars, which could disrupt the wide outer orbit.^[18] In the distant future, spanning tens of billions of years, the triple system's evolution may lead to Proxima's gradual unbounding or tighter integration, depending on cumulative perturbations, though the core AB binary centered on Toliman is expected to persist as the dominant stable component.^[18] Such dynamical outcomes highlight the fragility of wide stellar hierarchies in the Galactic disk, with Toliman's role underscoring the resilience of the inner binary against outer disruptions.^[18]

Observational History

Pre-20th Century Records

Toliman, known today as Alpha Centauri B, was recognized in ancient astronomical records as part of the Centaurus constellation, depicted as a centaur figure. In the 2nd century CE, Claudius Ptolemy cataloged it in his Almagest as the brightest star in Centaurus, listing the constellation with 30 stars based on observations from Alexandria, Egypt, where the star was visible low on the southern horizon. Ptolemy described the stars by their positions within the mythical outline, placing Toliman (then undifferentiated from Alpha Centauri A) as the "star on the right foot" of the centaur, contributing to the foundational Western star catalog that influenced astronomers for over a millennium. During the Islamic Golden Age, Arabic astronomers expanded on Ptolemaic traditions while incorporating indigenous asterisms. In the 10th century, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi documented Toliman in his Book of Fixed Stars (c. 964 CE), revising Ptolemy's catalog with improved magnitudes and positions derived from observations in Isfahan and Baghdad. Al-Sufi placed the star within the "Ostriches" (al-Naʿāmāt) asterism, a traditional Bedouin grouping associating Centaurus stars with desert wildlife, where Toliman represented part of the "Upper Ostriches" formation used for navigation across the Arabian Peninsula; this work illustrated constellations from both earthly and celestial perspectives, enhancing visibility descriptions for southern stars invisible from northern latitudes. The name "Toliman" itself derives from the Arabic "al-Tuʾaymin," linked to the "two ostriches" in this asterism.^[19]^[20]^[21] European exploration of southern skies brought renewed attention to Toliman in the 18th century. French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope from 1751 to 1752, systematically observed nearly 10,000 southern stars, including Toliman, which he cataloged in Coelum Australe Stelliferum (1763) with precise positions for epoch 1750. Lacaille's work marked a significant advancement in southern catalogs, confirming Ptolemaic and Arabic placements while noting Toliman's proximity to Alpha Centauri A; his measurements laid groundwork for later astrometry, though the binary separation of about 20 arcseconds required telescopic aid not routinely available earlier.^[22]^[23] Pre-telescopic records treated Toliman as inseparable from Alpha Centauri A, with no resolution of their binary nature until the late 17th century. Jesuit astronomer Jean Richaud first identified the pair as distinct during comet observations in Pondicherry, India, in 1689, publishing findings in 1692, though this went largely unnoticed in Europe. Lacaille independently resolved the binary in 1752 using a 2.5-foot telescope, but widespread confirmation and orbital studies awaited 19th-century advancements, such as James Dunlop's 1830s measures from Parramatta, Australia, which quantified their relative motion.^[24]^[25]

Modern Astrometry and Spectroscopy

In the 20th century, astrometric observations of Toliman (α Centauri B) built on early visual resolutions to refine the binary orbit with Alpha Centauri A. John Herschel conducted precise micrometric measurements of the binary pair during his observations at the Cape of Good Hope in the 1830s, using a 7.2-inch refractor telescope to measure their separation, which varied up to about 20 arcseconds on average. Early determinations of the binary orbit were published in the mid-19th century using visual measures, yielding an orbital period of approximately 80 years and an eccentricity of 0.52.^[26] Modern astrometry has dramatically improved the precision of Toliman's position and distance. The Hipparcos satellite, launched in 1989, provided the first space-based parallax measurement for the α Centauri system of 747.17 ± 0.61 mas, corresponding to a distance of 4.37 light-years, through reanalysis of the original data to account for orbital motion.^[27] Subsequent updates from ground-based interferometry and millimeter-wave observations, such as those with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2021, refined the orbital parallax to 750.81 ± 0.38 mas, yielding a distance of 4.344 light-years and confirming the system's proper motion of approximately 3.68 arcseconds per year.^[28] Although α Centauri A and B are too bright for direct inclusion in Gaia Data Release 3 (2022), the mission's data on surrounding stars have indirectly supported these refinements by calibrating relative astrometry. Spectroscopic observations have complemented astrometry by monitoring Toliman's radial velocity to confirm orbital elements. Long-term monitoring with the CORALIE spectrograph on the 1.2-meter Euler Telescope since the late 1990s and the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6-meter ESO telescope since 2003 has provided high-precision radial velocity measurements, revealing semi-amplitudes of about 1.3 km/s for Toliman relative to the barycenter and confirming the orbital period of 79.762 years with an eccentricity of 0.5179. These datasets, spanning over two decades, have reduced uncertainties in the orbital inclination to 79.20° and the semi-major axis to 23.52 AU.^[29] Interferometric measurements in the 2000s have directly probed Toliman's size and surface properties. Using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) with the PIONIER instrument in the H band during 2016 observations, the limb-darkened angular diameter of Toliman was measured as 6.037 ± 0.027 mas, accounting for both statistical and systematic errors from multi-baseline configurations.^[30] Combined with the parallax, this yields a physical radius of 0.859 ± 0.005 solar radii, highlighting Toliman's status as a main-sequence K1V star with moderate limb darkening consistent with 3D atmospheric models.^[31]

Potential Companions

Exoplanet Searches

Radial velocity surveys represent a primary method for detecting exoplanets around Toliman, leveraging the star's gravitational wobble induced by orbiting companions. High-precision spectrographs mounted on large telescopes have been instrumental in these efforts. The ESPRESSO instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), commissioned in 2018, achieves sensitivities down to approximately 10 cm/s for bright K-type stars like Toliman, enabling the potential detection of Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone.^[32] Earlier surveys using the HARPS spectrograph laid the groundwork, but ESPRESSO's enhanced stability and resolution have significantly improved the prospects for identifying low-mass companions. Direct imaging attempts have also targeted Toliman, though they face substantial hurdles due to the star's proximity and brightness. Observations with the NACO adaptive optics instrument on the VLT have been performed to search for faint companions, including potential substellar objects or planets, by suppressing the stellar glare through coronagraphy and high-contrast imaging techniques in the near-infrared. These efforts have set upper limits on the presence of bright, wide-orbit companions but have not yielded confirmed detections of planets, primarily because the intense stellar light overwhelms signals from lower-mass worlds. Looking ahead, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) offers promising capabilities for direct imaging in the mid-infrared, where Toliman's glare is reduced, potentially allowing the detection of temperate, low-mass exoplanets within a few astronomical units.^[33] Astrometric methods provide another avenue for exoplanet detection around Toliman, measuring the star's positional shifts caused by planetary tugs. Data from the Gaia mission have been analyzed to constrain possible companions, with the satellite's microarcsecond astrometric precision enabling limits on planets interior to about 0.5 AU, beyond which detection sensitivity improves for more massive or distant worlds. However, Gaia's observations of the bright Alpha Centauri system require careful handling to avoid saturation, and current data primarily rule out Jupiter-mass planets on close orbits while leaving outer regions open for further scrutiny in future releases. The binary nature of the Alpha Centauri system poses unique challenges to exoplanet searches around Toliman, as gravitational perturbations from Alpha Centauri A can destabilize inner orbits. At periastron, the separation between the two stars narrows to approximately 11 AU, which limits the stability of potential planetary systems within roughly 3 AU of Toliman and complicates interpretations of radial velocity and astrometric signals.^[16] These dynamics necessitate modeling the binary orbit's influence to distinguish true planetary signatures from stellar interactions, emphasizing the need for long-term, multi-technique monitoring to overcome such limitations.

Disproven or Candidate Planets

In 2012, a team led by Artie Hatzes and Michael Zucker reported a radial velocity signal from Toliman (Alpha Centauri B) suggesting the presence of an Earth-mass planet, designated Alpha Centauri Bb, with an orbital period of approximately 3.2 days and a minimum mass of about 1.1 Earth masses. This candidate was notable as the closest exoplanet to Earth at the time and the lowest-mass planet around a Sun-like star. However, subsequent analysis in 2015 by James Rajpaul and colleagues, using advanced Gaussian process modeling to account for stellar activity, demonstrated that the signal was an artifact caused by Toliman's chromospheric variability and rotational modulation, effectively disproving the planet's existence.^[34] The New Earths in the AlphaCen Region (NEAR) experiment, conducted in 2021 using the VISIR instrument on the Very Large Telescope, targeted direct imaging of low-mass planets in the habitable zones of both Alpha Centauri A and B. For Toliman, the observations achieved sensitivity to Jupiter-mass planets (radii around 11 Earth radii) at separations of 1–2 AU, but no confirmed detection was made; any tentative signals remain unverified as of 2025, pending further observations.^[33] As of November 2025, no exoplanets have been confirmed around Toliman. Dynamical stability models for the Alpha Centauri AB binary system, combined with radial velocity and astrometric constraints, limit the maximum mass of stable planets in Toliman's habitable zone (approximately 0.5–1.2 AU) to about 8.4 Earth masses. This upper limit rules out the presence of Earth-mass planets above that threshold, as larger bodies would be destabilized by the binary companion over long timescales. In contrast to Proxima Centauri, which hosts confirmed planets including the Earth-sized Proxima b in its narrow habitable zone, Toliman's greater luminosity—about 0.50 times that of the Sun compared to Proxima's 0.0017 times—shifts its habitable zone outward and allows for potentially more diverse planetary architectures, though none have been verified to date.

Scientific Importance

Proximity to Earth

The TOLIMAN mission targets the Alpha Centauri system, located approximately 4.3 light-years from Earth, making it the closest star system to the Sun and an ideal candidate for high-precision exoplanet detection. This proximity allows the mission's compact telescope to measure stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets with micro-arcsecond accuracy, far surpassing ground-based capabilities limited by atmospheric distortion. By focusing on Alpha Centauri A and B—Sun-like stars similar to our own—the mission aims to identify Earth-mass planets in habitable zones where liquid water could exist, potentially revealing the nearest analogs to our Solar System.^[1]^[2] The exceptional closeness of Alpha Centauri facilitates detailed observations that could confirm biosignatures or habitability indicators in nearby exoplanets, advancing the search for extraterrestrial life. As the third-closest star system when considering Proxima Centauri separately at 4.24 light-years, Alpha Centauri provides a benchmark for studying planetary formation around binary stars, with TOLIMAN's three-year observation period in sun-synchronous orbit enabling continuous monitoring to detect signals as faint as 10^{-6} pixels. This positions the mission as a foundational step in exploring our stellar neighborhood for potentially life-bearing worlds.^[3]^[4]

Applications in Astrophysics

TOLIMAN represents a breakthrough in low-cost space astrometry, demonstrating that small CubeSat platforms can achieve precision rivaling larger observatories, thus democratizing access to exoplanet science. By employing a diffractive pupil mask to create unique starlight patterns and an embedded spectrometer for chromatic analysis, the mission refines techniques for detecting low-mass planets around Sun-like stars within 10 light-years, expanding the catalog of habitable zone candidates beyond radial velocity and transit methods. AI-driven data processing on board the 16U spacecraft enhances signal extraction from noisy environments, offering scalable tools for future missions targeting thousands of nearby stars.^[1]^[5] The mission's success could validate astrometry as a complementary method for characterizing exoplanetary systems, particularly in binaries like Alpha Centauri, where gravitational interactions complicate other detection approaches. High-precision measurements will constrain planetary masses, orbits, and inclinations, informing models of dynamical stability and migration in multi-star environments. Funded by Breakthrough Initiatives and partners, TOLIMAN's innovative design—nearing completion as of mid-2025—paves the way for agile, responsive space telescopes, potentially accelerating discoveries in astrobiology and stellar dynamics. Launch targeted for 2026, it underscores the role of private-public collaborations in probing the nearest potential habitats for life.^[2]^[35]

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Classically and Asteroseismically constrained 1D Stellar Evolution ...
Jun 20, 2018 · Classically and Asteroseismically constrained 1D Stellar Evolution Models of α Centauri A and B using Empirical Mixing Length Calibrations.
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Classically and Asteroseismically Constrained 1D Stellar Evolution ...
The bright, nearby binary α Centauri provides an excellent laboratory for testing stellar evolution models, because it is one of the few stellar systems for ...Missing: benchmark | Show results with:benchmark
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Testing gravity with wide binary stars like α Centauri
These systems probe the accelerations at which galaxy rotation curves unexpectedly flatline, possibly due to modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). We conduct ...
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Explore the 10 nearest stars | Astronomy.com
Jun 2, 2023 · Its companion star, commonly known as Alpha Centauri B, became Toliman under the IAU's naming shift of 2016. Toliman is about 10 percent ...
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Golden Record Cover - NASA Science
It shows the location of the solar system with respect to 14 pulsars, whose precise periods are given. The drawing containing two circles in the lower right- ...