Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 1999

HD 209458 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) HD 209458, located approximately 157.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 15.58 Earth radii
  • A mass of 232.02 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.96 g
  • An orbital period of 3.525 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0471 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,459 K (1186 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 157.54 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.077
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 2,778,192 years

HD 209458 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
15.58 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.390 R♃
Mass
232.02 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.730 M♃
Density
0.36 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.96 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.077
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 1999
Method Radial Velocity
Facility W. M. Keck Observatory
Telescope 10 m Keck I Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#192of 1771

top 10.8%

This planet

15.58R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth HD 209458 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0015.5811.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00232.02317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.361.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.962.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00587.100.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 232.016 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).
Minimum mass (M sin i) 222.154 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 209458

HIP

HIP 108859

TIC

TIC 420814525

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 1779546757669063552

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 1779546757669063552

System

HD 209458

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 15.581 R⊕ · percentile 89 / cohort 1771
Mass 232.016 M⊕ · percentile 25 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 3.52 d · percentile 23 / cohort 1533
Distance 48.30 pc · percentile 19 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.077 · percentile 17 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.525 days
Semi-major axis
0.0471 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
86.71 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.52 Earth days (1.0% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0471 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.500 %

Duration

3.072 h

Impact parameter b

0.507

Rp / R★

0.120860

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,451,659.9374

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 15,000 ppm lasting ≈ 3.07 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.120860

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

8.810

Impact parameter (b)

0.507

RV semi-amplitude (K)

84.700 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,451,659.9374

Long. of periastron (ω)

0.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

-1.60°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.97500

Eq. Temperature

1,459K

(1186 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

587.10

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.077

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.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Henry et al. 2000

Instrument

HIRES Spectrometer

Publication

2000-01

Observation locale

Ground

Discovery cohort

Planets confirmed in 1999 at W. M. Keck Observatory (4 shown).

Host System: HD 209458

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

6,091 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.10 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.190 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.230 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.01

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.450 dex

Stellar density

1.040 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-14.74 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

4.40 km/s

Rotation period

10.65 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-5.000

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
48.30 parsec
Light-years 157.54 ly
V-band magnitude
7.65 mag
Voyager-speed travel 2,778,192 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

6.28.28.17B7.65V7.51Gaia7.13TESS6.59J6.37H6.31K6.31W16.19W26.32W36.27W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

20.675 mas

Total Proper Motion

34.568 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

29.58 mas/yr

PM Declination

-17.89 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.826 · y = -0.462 · z = 0.324

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 330.79502° · Dec 18.88424°

Galactic ℓ, b

76.753° · -28.527°

Ecliptic λ, β

340.350° · 28.724°

HTM-20 index

1553919534

Observation Record

Photometric series

27

RV measurements

5

Stellar spectra

2

Transmission spectra

9

Emission spectra

35

Archive notes

6

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