Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2010

WASP-26 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-26, located approximately 824.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.56 Earth radii
  • A mass of 270.16 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.47 g
  • An orbital period of 2.757 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0400 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,650 K (1377 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 824.39 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.078
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 14,538,093 years

WASP-26 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.56 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.210 R♃
Mass
270.16 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.850 M♃
Density
0.70 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.47 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.078
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2010
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#660of 1771

top 37.2%

This planet

13.56R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-26 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.5611.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00270.16317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.701.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.472.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,225.530.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 270.156 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 32487566

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2416782701664155008

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2416782701664155008

System

WASP-26

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.563 R⊕ · percentile 63 / cohort 1771
Mass 270.156 M⊕ · percentile 30 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 2.76 d · percentile 13 / cohort 1533
Distance 252.76 pc · percentile 56 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.078 · percentile 17 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
2.757 days
Semi-major axis
0.0400 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
82.50 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 2.76 Earth days (0.8% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0400 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.000 %

Duration

2.381 h

Impact parameter b

0.830

Rp / R★

0.101100

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,548.8004

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 10,000 ppm lasting ≈ 2.38 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.101100

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.430

Impact parameter (b)

0.830

RV semi-amplitude (K)

135.500 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,548.8004

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

-16.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.15800

Eq. Temperature

1,650K

(1377 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,225.53

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.078

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

Smalley et al. 2010

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2010-09

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-26

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

6,034 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

6.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.220 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.860 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.16

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.440 dex

Stellar density

0.660 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

8.46 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.20 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
252.76 parsec
Light-years 824.39 ly
V-band magnitude
11.30 mag
Voyager-speed travel 14,538,093 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.411.611.62B11.30V10.99Gaia10.59TESS10.02J9.78H9.69K9.66W19.70W29.63W38.40W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.929 mas

Total Proper Motion

36.689 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

27.39 mas/yr

PM Declination

-24.41 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.962 · y = 0.077 · z = -0.263

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 4.60304° · Dec -15.26740°

Galactic ℓ, b

88.353° · -75.872°

Ecliptic λ, β

357.988° · -15.807°

HTM-20 index

-614867544

Observation Record

RV measurements

1

Emission spectra

3

Archive notes

2

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