Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2007

WASP-4 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-4, located approximately 871.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 15.12 Earth radii
  • A mass of 381.39 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.67 g
  • An orbital period of 1.338 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0226 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,653 K (1380 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 871.51 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.074
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 15,369,050 years

WASP-4 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
15.12 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.349 R♃
Mass
381.39 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
1.200 M♃
Density
0.65 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.67 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.074
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2007
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#225of 1771

top 12.6%

This planet

15.12R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-4 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0015.1211.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00381.39317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.651.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.672.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,188.620.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 381.394 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 402026209

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6535499658122055552

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6535499658122055552

System

WASP-4

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 15.121 R⊕ · percentile 87 / cohort 1771
Mass 381.394 M⊕ · percentile 40 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 1.34 d · percentile 2 / cohort 1533
Distance 267.21 pc · percentile 57 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.074 · percentile 15 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.338 days
Semi-major axis
0.0226 AU
Eccentricity
0.005
Inclination
88.05 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.34 Earth days (0.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0226 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

2.312 %

Duration

2.166 h

Impact parameter b

0.184

Rp / R★

0.152050

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,804.5157

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 23,120 ppm lasting ≈ 2.17 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.152050

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

5.411

Impact parameter (b)

0.184

RV semi-amplitude (K)

234.600 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,804.5157

Long. of periastron (ω)

247.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

-1.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.08460

Eq. Temperature

1,653K

(1380 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,188.62

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.074

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.

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Wilson et al. 2008

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2008-03

Observation locale

Ground

Discovery cohort

Planets confirmed in 2007 at SuperWASP (3 shown).

Host System: WASP-4

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,436 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.912 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.899 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.472 dex

Stellar density

1.671 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

57.73 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.97 km/s

Rotation period

22.20 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
267.21 parsec
Light-years 871.51 ly
V-band magnitude
12.48 mag
Voyager-speed travel 15,369,050 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.513.513.51B12.48V12.32Gaia11.83TESS11.18J10.84H10.75K10.68W110.75W210.72W38.47W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.715 mas

Total Proper Motion

88.073 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

9.87 mas/yr

PM Declination

-87.52 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.738 · y = -0.083 · z = -0.670

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 353.56291° · Dec -42.06178°

Galactic ℓ, b

344.492° · -68.296°

Ecliptic λ, β

335.071° · -35.559°

HTM-20 index

2002174647

Observation Record

Photometric series

13

RV measurements

1

Transmission spectra

3

Emission spectra

7

Archive notes

3

Similar Worlds

Explore Related Categories