Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2011

WASP-39 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-39, located approximately 697.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 14.34 Earth radii
  • A mass of 89.31 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.43 g
  • An orbital period of 4.055 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0483 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,166 K (893 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 697.92 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.087
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 12,307,733 years

WASP-39 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
14.34 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.279 R♃
Mass
89.31 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.281 M♃
Density
0.17 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.43 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.087
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2011
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#299of 1771

top 16.8%

This planet

14.34R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-39 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0014.3411.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0089.31317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.171.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.432.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00316.270.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 89.310 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 181949561

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3643098875168270592

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3643098875168270592

System

WASP-39

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 14.336 R⊕ · percentile 83 / cohort 1771
Mass 89.310 M⊕ · percentile 4 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 4.06 d · percentile 29 / cohort 1533
Distance 213.98 pc · percentile 52 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.087 · percentile 21 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.055 days
Semi-major axis
0.0483 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
87.32 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.06 Earth days (1.1% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0483 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

2.343 %

Duration

2.803 h

Impact parameter b

0.450

Rp / R★

0.145700

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,342.9691

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 23,435 ppm lasting ≈ 2.80 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.145700

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

11.390

Impact parameter (b)

0.450

RV semi-amplitude (K)

37.900 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,342.9691

Long. of periastron (ω)

0.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

0.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.22600

Eq. Temperature

1,166K

(893 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

316.27

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.087

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

Faedi et al. 2011

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2011-07

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-39

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,485 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

8.50 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.939 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.913 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.01

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.453 dex

Stellar density

1.555 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-58.44 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.00 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
213.98 parsec
Light-years 697.92 ly
V-band magnitude
12.10 mag
Voyager-speed travel 12,307,733 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.215.115.13U12.85B12.10V11.89Gaia11.38TESS12.52Sloan g11.94Sloan r11.74Sloan i13.68Sloan z10.66J10.31H10.20K10.16W110.22W210.13W39.21W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

4.645 mas

Total Proper Motion

19.056 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-19.05 mas/yr

PM Declination

0.35 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.794 · y = -0.605 · z = -0.060

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 217.32665° · Dec -3.44450°

Galactic ℓ, b

344.403° · 51.371°

Ecliptic λ, β

216.115° · 10.698°

HTM-20 index

-779564604

Observation Record

RV measurements

2

Transmission spectra

27

Emission spectra

3

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