Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

WASP-61 b

A gas giant orbiting the f-type yellow-white WASP-61, located approximately 1,593.8 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 15.80 Earth radii
  • A mass of 851.78 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.41 g
  • An orbital period of 3.856 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0521 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,624 K (1351 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,593.79 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.085
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 28,106,554 years

WASP-61 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
15.80 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.410 R♃
Mass
851.78 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
2.680 M♃
Density
1.42 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.41 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

#174of 1771

top 9.8%

This planet

15.80R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-61 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0015.8011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00851.78317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.421.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.412.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,062.030.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 851.784 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 13021029

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2959177048983750016

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2959177048983750016

System

WASP-61

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 15.805 R⊕ · percentile 90 / cohort 1771
Mass 851.784 M⊕ · percentile 63 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 3.86 d · percentile 27 / cohort 1533
Distance 488.66 pc · percentile 74 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.085 · percentile 20 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.856 days
Semi-major axis
0.0521 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.35 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.86 Earth days (1.1% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0521 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.880 %

Duration

3.950 h

Impact parameter b

0.100

Rp / R★

0.093800

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,128.1189

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 8,800 ppm lasting ≈ 3.95 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.093800

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

8.150

Impact parameter (b)

0.100

RV semi-amplitude (K)

233.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,128.1189

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

4.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.10700

Eq. Temperature

1,624K

(1351 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,062.03

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-61

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,250 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.70 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.550 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.820 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.10

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.260 dex

Stellar density

0.690 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

18.90 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

10.30 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
488.66 parsec
Light-years 1,593.79 ly
V-band magnitude
12.49 mag
Voyager-speed travel 28,106,554 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

9.312.812.83B12.49V12.07Gaia11.72TESS11.22J11.03H11.01K10.92W110.95W210.97W39.34W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.018 mas

Total Proper Motion

3.208 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

0.49 mas/yr

PM Declination

3.17 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.228 · y = 0.869 · z = -0.439

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 75.29966° · Dec -26.05414°

Galactic ℓ, b

227.121° · -34.765°

Ecliptic λ, β

69.884° · -48.472°

HTM-20 index

-695753707

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