Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

WASP-55 b

A gas giant orbiting the f-type yellow-white WASP-55, located approximately 970.2 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 14.73 Earth radii
  • A mass of 186.25 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.86 g
  • An orbital period of 4.466 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0558 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,342 K (1069 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 970.19 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.085
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 17,109,303 years

WASP-55 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
14.73 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.314 R♃
Mass
186.25 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.586 M♃
Density
0.34 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.86 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.085
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#258of 1771

top 14.5%

This planet

14.73R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-55 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0014.7311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00186.25317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.341.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.862.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00504.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 186.247 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 294301883

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3603529272750802560

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3603529272750802560

System

WASP-55

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 14.729 R⊕ · percentile 85 / cohort 1771
Mass 186.247 M⊕ · percentile 17 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 4.47 d · percentile 33 / cohort 1533
Distance 297.46 pc · percentile 60 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.085 · percentile 20 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.466 days
Semi-major axis
0.0558 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
88.74 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.47 Earth days (1.2% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0558 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.836 %

Duration

3.533 h

Impact parameter b

0.235

Rp / R★

0.122300

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,737.9392

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 18,355 ppm lasting ≈ 3.53 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.122300

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

10.660

Impact parameter (b)

0.235

RV semi-amplitude (K)

68.700 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,737.9392

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.18800

Eq. Temperature

1,342K

(1069 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

504.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.085

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

Hellier et al. 2012

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2012-10

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-55

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,096 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.05 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.090 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.071 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.03

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.393 dex

Stellar density

1.159 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-4.32 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

3.28 km/s

Rotation period

17.45 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.844

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
297.46 parsec
Light-years 970.19 ly
V-band magnitude
11.75 mag
Voyager-speed travel 17,109,303 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

8.612.712.69B11.75V11.77Gaia11.74Kepler11.35TESS10.78J10.44H10.40K10.32W110.34W210.38W38.64W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.334 mas

Total Proper Motion

12.667 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

12.07 mas/yr

PM Declination

-3.84 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.873 · y = -0.384 · z = -0.301

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 203.75820° · Dec -17.50350°

Galactic ℓ, b

317.483° · 44.133°

Ecliptic λ, β

208.406° · -7.072°

HTM-20 index

-1240417074

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