Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2024

HD 77946 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the f-type yellow-white HD 77946, located approximately 324.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.90 Earth radii
  • A mass of 10.90 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.30 g
  • An orbital period of 6.527 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0730 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,129 K (856 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 324.37 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.213
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 5,720,184 years

HD 77946 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.90 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.258 R♃
Mass
10.90 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.034 M♃
Density
2.44 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.30 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.213
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2024
Method Transit
Facility Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Telescope 0.1 m TESS Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#637of 1978

top 32.2%

This planet

2.90R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth HD 77946 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.9011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0010.90317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.441.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.302.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00413.100.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 10.900 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 77946

HIP

HIP 44746

TIC

TIC 39699648

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 1011435012611142784

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 1011435012611767552

System

HD 77946

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.896 R⊕ · percentile 68 / cohort 1978
Mass 10.900 M⊕ · percentile 79 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 6.53 d · percentile 20 / cohort 1946
Distance 99.45 pc · percentile 20 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.213 · percentile 9 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
6.527 days
Semi-major axis
0.0730 AU
Eccentricity
0.211
Inclination
87.79 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 6.53 Earth days (1.8% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.0730 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.042 %

Duration

2.976 h

Impact parameter b

0.593

Rp / R★

0.020157

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,458,875.9989

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 415 ppm lasting ≈ 2.98 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.020157

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

12.009

Impact parameter (b)

0.593

RV semi-amplitude (K)

3.400 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,458,875.9989

Long. of periastron (ω)

9.20°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.73400

Eq. Temperature

1,129K

(856 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

413.10

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.213

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

Palethorpe et al. 2024

Instrument

TESS CCD Array

Publication

2024-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: HD 77946

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,007 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.10 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.317 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.197 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.22

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.276 dex

Stellar density

0.734 g/cm³

Rotation period

13.56 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-5.010

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
99.45 parsec
Light-years 324.37 ly
V-band magnitude
8.99 mag
Voyager-speed travel 5,720,184 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

7.69.69.59B8.99V8.85Gaia8.46TESS7.90J7.67H7.62K7.56W17.64W27.62W37.66W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

10.026 mas

Total Proper Motion

79.786 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-68.54 mas/yr

PM Declination

-40.84 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.500 · y = 0.470 · z = 0.727

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 136.77764° · Dec 46.67243°

Galactic ℓ, b

173.226° · 42.258°

Ecliptic λ, β

124.756° · 28.718°

HTM-20 index

1555597987

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