2026AJ....171...20B

The discovery of infant (<50 Myr), close-in (<30-day-period) planets is vital in understanding the formation mechanisms that lead to the distribution of mature transiting planets as discovered by Kepler. Despite several discoveries in this age bin, the sample is still too small for a robust statistical comparison to older planets. Here we report the validation of TOI-6448b, an 8.8 ± 0.8 R_⊕ planet on a 14.8-day orbit. TOI-6448 was previously identified to be a likely member of Vela Population IV. We confirm the star's membership and rederive the age of the cluster using isochrones, variability, and gyrochronology. We find the star, and thus planet, to be 34 ± 3 Myr. Like other young planets, TOI-6448 b lands in a region of parameter space with few older planets. While just one data point, this fits with prior findings of an excess of 5-11 R_⊕ planets around young stars far beyond what can be explained by reduced sensitivity at young ages. Our ongoing searches of Vela, Taurus-Auriga, Sco-Cen, and Orion are expected to reveal dozens more <50 Myr transiting planets.