Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2009

WASP-6 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) WASP-6, located approximately 642.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 12.54 Earth radii
  • A mass of 148.43 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.94 g
  • An orbital period of 3.361 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0422 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,167 K (894 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 642.92 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.109
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 11,337,813 years

WASP-6 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
12.54 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.119 R♃
Mass
148.43 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.467 M♃
Density
0.44 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.94 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.109
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2009
Method Transit
Facility SuperWASP
Telescope Canon 200mm f/1.8L

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1228of 1771

top 69.3%

This planet

12.54R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-6 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0012.5411.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00148.43317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.441.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.942.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00288.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 148.426 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 204376737

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2385171398768647552

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2385171398768647552

System

WASP-6

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 12.543 R⊕ · percentile 31 / cohort 1771
Mass 148.426 M⊕ · percentile 12 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 3.36 d · percentile 21 / cohort 1533
Distance 197.12 pc · percentile 50 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.109 · percentile 29 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.361 days
Semi-major axis
0.0422 AU
Eccentricity
0.054
Inclination
89.00 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.36 Earth days (0.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0422 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

2.408 %

Duration

2.569 h

Impact parameter b

0.195

Rp / R★

0.144600

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,596.4326

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 24,082 ppm lasting ≈ 2.57 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.144600

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

11.210

Impact parameter (b)

0.195

RV semi-amplitude (K)

69.600 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,596.4326

Long. of periastron (ω)

1.70°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

7.20°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.21400

Eq. Temperature

1,167K

(894 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

288.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.109

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

Tregloan Reed et al. 2015

Instrument

iKon-L CCD Camera

Publication

2015-06

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: WASP-6

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,438 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.20 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.790 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.854 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.15

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.565 dex

Stellar density

2.439 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

12.53 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.50 km/s

Rotation period

28.28 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.476

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
197.12 parsec
Light-years 642.92 ly
V-band magnitude
11.91 mag
Voyager-speed travel 11,337,813 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.312.912.90B11.91V11.98Gaia11.48TESS10.77J10.45H10.33K10.28W110.34W210.24W38.29W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

5.045 mas

Total Proper Motion

43.639 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-23.30 mas/yr

PM Declination

-36.89 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.903 · y = -0.189 · z = -0.385

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 348.15713° · Dec -22.67412°

Galactic ℓ, b

38.731° · -67.195°

Ecliptic λ, β

340.086° · -16.162°

HTM-20 index

1057571794

Observation Record

Photometric series

6

RV measurements

2

Transmission spectra

3

Emission spectra

3

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