Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

WASP-131 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-131, located approximately 652.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.74 Earth radii
  • A mass of 86.77 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.46 g
  • An orbital period of 5.322 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0608 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,460 K (1187 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 652.56 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.071
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 11,507,835 years

WASP-131 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.74 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.226 R♃
Mass
86.77 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.273 M♃
Density
0.20 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.46 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.071
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2016
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP-South
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#552of 1771

top 31.1%

This planet

13.74R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-131 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.7411.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0086.77317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.201.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.462.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00995.370.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 86.767 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 271168962

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6173451477191225984

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6173451477191225984

System

WASP-131

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.742 R⊕ · percentile 69 / cohort 1771
Mass 86.767 M⊕ · percentile 4 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 5.32 d · percentile 38 / cohort 1533
Distance 200.08 pc · percentile 50 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.071 · percentile 13 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
5.322 days
Semi-major axis
0.0608 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
84.96 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 5.32 Earth days (1.5% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0608 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.652 %

Duration

3.845 h

Impact parameter b

0.735

Rp / R★

0.081500

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,458,282.2588

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 6,517 ppm lasting ≈ 3.85 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.081500

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

8.370

Impact parameter (b)

0.735

RV semi-amplitude (K)

30.500 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,458,282.2588

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

162.40°

True obliquity (ψ)

123.70°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.30400

Eq. Temperature

1,460K

(1187 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

995.37

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.071

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

Hellier et al. 2017

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2017-03

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-131

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,990 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.561 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.060 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.20

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.075 dex

Stellar density

0.392 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-19.66 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.80 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
200.08 parsec
Light-years 652.56 ly
V-band magnitude
10.07 mag
Voyager-speed travel 11,507,835 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.210.610.62B10.07V9.87Gaia9.47TESS8.90J8.65H8.57K8.54W18.57W28.52W38.19W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

4.971 mas

Total Proper Motion

14.249 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

10.29 mas/yr

PM Declination

-9.85 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.744 · y = -0.433 · z = -0.509

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 210.19357° · Dec -30.58361°

Galactic ℓ, b

320.153° · 29.959°

Ecliptic λ, β

218.859° · -17.133°

HTM-20 index

1286026204

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