Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

WASP-59 b

A neptune-like orbiting the k-type orange WASP-59, located approximately 378.1 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 8.69 Earth radii
  • A mass of 274.28 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.63 g
  • An orbital period of 7.920 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0697 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 670 K (397 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 378.13 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.279
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 6,668,361 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

WASP-59 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
8.69 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.775 R♃
Mass
274.28 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.863 M♃
Density
2.40 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.63 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.279
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

#106of 574

top 18.3%

This planet

8.69R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-59 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.008.6911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00274.28317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.401.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.632.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0038.030.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 274.276 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 91051152

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2841043011433969152

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2841043011433969152

System

WASP-59

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 8.687 R⊕ · percentile 82 / cohort 574
Mass 274.276 M⊕ · percentile 96 / cohort 574
Orbital period 7.92 d · percentile 31 / cohort 524
Distance 115.94 pc · percentile 27 / cohort 572
ESI 0.279 · percentile 45 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
7.920 days
Semi-major axis
0.0697 AU
Eccentricity
0.100
Inclination
89.27 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 7.92 Earth days (2.2% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.0697 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.690 %

Duration

2.448 h

Impact parameter b

0.290

Rp / R★

0.130000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,830.9556

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 16,900 ppm lasting ≈ 2.45 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.130000

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

24.390

Impact parameter (b)

0.290

RV semi-amplitude (K)

109.600 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,830.9556

Long. of periastron (ω)

74.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

16.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.60100

Eq. Temperature

670K

(397 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

38.03

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.279

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

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

Hebrard et al. 2013

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2013-01

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-59

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,650 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.50 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.613 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.719 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.15

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.720 dex

Stellar density

4.380 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-56.80 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.30 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
115.94 parsec
Light-years 378.13 ly
V-band magnitude
12.66 mag
Voyager-speed travel 6,668,361 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.816.416.43U14.01B12.66V12.31Gaia11.55TESS16.06Sloan g12.37Sloan r11.94Sloan i13.96Sloan z10.44J9.88H9.72K9.67W19.75W29.61W38.83W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

8.597 mas

Total Proper Motion

33.823 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-33.73 mas/yr

PM Declination

-2.52 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.892 · y = -0.163 · z = 0.421

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 349.62295° · Dec 24.88928°

Galactic ℓ, b

97.560° · -33.362°

Ecliptic λ, β

1.120° · 26.816°

HTM-20 index

815946713

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