Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2011

WASP-46 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-46, located approximately 1,224.1 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.16 Earth radii
  • A mass of 607.06 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.51 g
  • An orbital period of 1.430 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0234 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,636 K (1363 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,224.10 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.088
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 21,586,933 years

WASP-46 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.16 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.174 R♃
Mass
607.06 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
1.910 M♃
Density
1.47 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.51 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.088
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

#901of 1771

top 50.8%

This planet

13.16R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-46 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.1611.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00607.06317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.471.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.512.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,281.240.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 607.055 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 231663901

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6462994429708755072

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6462994429708755072

System

WASP-46

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.159 R⊕ · percentile 49 / cohort 1771
Mass 607.055 M⊕ · percentile 54 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 1.43 d · percentile 3 / cohort 1533
Distance 375.31 pc · percentile 67 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.088 · percentile 22 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.430 days
Semi-major axis
0.0234 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
82.80 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.43 Earth days (0.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0233 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.896 %

Duration

1.617 h

Impact parameter b

0.699

Rp / R★

0.140750

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,392.3166

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 18,961 ppm lasting ≈ 1.62 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.140750

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

5.851

Impact parameter (b)

0.699

RV semi-amplitude (K)

386.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,392.3166

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.06220

Eq. Temperature

1,636K

(1363 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,281.24

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.088

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

Anderson et al. 2011

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2012-05

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-46

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,600 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

9.60 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.858 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.828 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.30

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.489 dex

Stellar density

1.845 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-3.78 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.90 km/s

Rotation period

16.00 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
375.31 parsec
Light-years 1,224.10 ly
V-band magnitude
13.04 mag
Voyager-speed travel 21,586,933 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

9.213.613.64B13.04V12.85Gaia12.41TESS11.75J11.47H11.40K11.35W111.37W210.94W39.24W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.636 mas

Total Proper Motion

20.400 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

12.64 mas/yr

PM Declination

-16.01 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.422 · y = -0.370 · z = -0.828

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 318.73701° · Dec -55.87186°

Galactic ℓ, b

340.698° · -42.074°

Ecliptic λ, β

302.232° · -37.755°

HTM-20 index

355084979

Observation Record

RV measurements

1

Transmission spectra

4

Emission spectra

4

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