Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2005

HD 149026 b

A neptune-like orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) HD 149026, located approximately 247.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 8.29 Earth radii
  • A mass of 120.78 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.76 g
  • An orbital period of 2.876 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0436 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,626 K (1353 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 247.44 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.088
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 4,363,533 years

HD 149026 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
8.29 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.740 R♃
Mass
120.78 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.380 M♃
Density
0.75 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.76 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.088
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2005
Method Radial Velocity
Facility Subaru Telescope
Telescope 8.2 m Subaru Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#136of 574

top 23.5%

This planet

8.29R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth HD 149026 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.008.2911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00120.78317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.751.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.762.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,095.910.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 120.775 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).
Minimum mass (M sin i) 114.410 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.
Computed mass 114.800 M⊕ Model-computed mass (e.g. from mass-radius relation).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 149026

HIP

HIP 80838

TIC

TIC 255930614

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 1331356474971716992

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 1331356474971716992

System

HD 149026

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 8.295 R⊕ · percentile 76 / cohort 574
Mass 120.775 M⊕ · percentile 92 / cohort 574
Orbital period 2.88 d · percentile 4 / cohort 524
Distance 75.86 pc · percentile 21 / cohort 572
ESI 0.088 · percentile 2 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
2.876 days
Semi-major axis
0.0436 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
84.55 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 2.88 Earth days (0.8% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0436 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.290 %

Duration

3.140 h

Impact parameter b

0.571

Rp / R★

0.054160

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,217.6414

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 2,900 ppm lasting ≈ 3.14 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.054160

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.800

Impact parameter (b)

0.571

RV semi-amplitude (K)

43.300 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,217.6414

Long. of periastron (ω)

109.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

12.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.57500

Eq. Temperature

1,626K

(1353 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,095.91

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.088

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the dayside is scorched.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Orbital-brightness modulation

Host star brightness varies with the planet's orbit.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Sato et al. 2005

Instrument

HDS Spectrograph

Publication

2005-11

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: HD 149026

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

6,179 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.60 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.410 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.420 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.32

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.370 dex

Stellar density

0.720 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-17.84 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

6.00 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
75.86 parsec
Light-years 247.44 ly
V-band magnitude
8.15 mag
Voyager-speed travel 4,363,533 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

6.88.88.75B8.15V8.01Gaia7.63TESS7.12J6.90H6.82K6.79W16.80W26.82W36.85W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

13.153 mas

Total Proper Motion

93.975 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-77.90 mas/yr

PM Declination

52.56 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.299 · y = -0.725 · z = 0.620

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 247.62298° · Dec 38.34753°

Galactic ℓ, b

61.297° · 43.284°

Ecliptic λ, β

234.496° · 59.060°

HTM-20 index

-1930620041

Observation Record

Photometric series

14

RV measurements

3

Stellar spectra

4

Emission spectra

9

Archive notes

1

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