Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2009

WASP-16 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-16, located approximately 633.2 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.67 Earth radii
  • A mass of 394.11 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 2.11 g
  • An orbital period of 3.119 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0415 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,389 K (1116 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 633.18 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.089
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 11,166,123 years

WASP-16 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.67 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.220 R♃
Mass
394.11 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
1.240 M♃
Density
0.57 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
2.11 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.089
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2009
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#596of 1771

top 33.6%

This planet

13.67R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-16 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.6711.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00394.11317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.571.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.002.112.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00481.920.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 394.109 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 46096489

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6283723285046532864

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6283723285046532864

System

WASP-16

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.675 R⊕ · percentile 66 / cohort 1771
Mass 394.109 M⊕ · percentile 41 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 3.12 d · percentile 17 / cohort 1533
Distance 194.13 pc · percentile 49 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.089 · percentile 22 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.119 days
Semi-major axis
0.0415 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
85.22 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.12 Earth days (0.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0415 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.200 %

Duration

2.043 h

Impact parameter b

0.810

Rp / R★

0.107900

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,355.7965

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 12,000 ppm lasting ≈ 2.04 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.107900

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

9.520

Impact parameter (b)

0.810

RV semi-amplitude (K)

116.700 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,355.7965

Long. of periastron (ω)

97.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

11.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.21400

Eq. Temperature

1,389K

(1116 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

481.92

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.089

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

Lister et al. 2009

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2009-09

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-16

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,700 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

8.60 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.140 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.780 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.01

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.490 dex

Stellar density

1.680 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-1.94 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

3.20 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
194.13 parsec
Light-years 633.18 ly
V-band magnitude
11.29 mag
Voyager-speed travel 11,166,123 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.113.913.89U12.51B11.29V11.12Gaia10.65TESS12.18Sloan g11.29Sloan r11.11Sloan i11.83Sloan z9.98J9.66H9.59K9.54W19.58W29.50W39.11W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

5.123 mas

Total Proper Motion

17.257 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-0.04 mas/yr

PM Declination

17.26 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.771 · y = -0.534 · z = -0.347

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 214.68301° · Dec -20.27544°

Galactic ℓ, b

329.235° · 38.097°

Ecliptic λ, β

219.128° · -6.063°

HTM-20 index

-924623331

Observation Record

Photometric series

1

RV measurements

1

Emission spectra

2

Archive notes

1

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