Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

WASP-66 b

A gas giant orbiting the f-type yellow-white WASP-66, located approximately 1,631.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 15.69 Earth radii
  • A mass of 746.90 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.03 g
  • An orbital period of 4.086 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0546 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,570 K (1297 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,631.62 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.085
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 28,773,643 years

WASP-66 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
15.69 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.400 R♃
Mass
746.90 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
2.350 M♃
Density
1.14 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.03 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

#180of 1771

top 10.1%

This planet

15.69R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WASP-66 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0015.6911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00746.90317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.141.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.032.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,434.770.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 746.901 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 53735810

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 5444147952811517696

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 5444147952811517696

System

WASP-66

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 15.693 R⊕ · percentile 90 / cohort 1771
Mass 746.901 M⊕ · percentile 59 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 4.09 d · percentile 30 / cohort 1533
Distance 500.26 pc · percentile 75 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.085 · percentile 20 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.086 days
Semi-major axis
0.0546 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
85.90 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.09 Earth days (1.1% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0546 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.670 %

Duration

4.502 h

Impact parameter b

0.480

Rp / R★

0.081700

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,477.7107

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 6,700 ppm lasting ≈ 4.50 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.081700

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.730

Impact parameter (b)

0.480

RV semi-amplitude (K)

246.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,477.7107

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

-4.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.10900

Eq. Temperature

1,570K

(1297 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,434.77

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-66

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,600 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.70 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.760 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.330 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.31

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.300 dex

Stellar density

0.340 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-10.02 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

11.80 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
500.26 parsec
Light-years 1,631.62 ly
V-band magnitude
11.61 mag
Voyager-speed travel 28,773,643 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

8.412.012.00B11.61V11.59Gaia11.25TESS10.72J10.50H10.45K10.40W110.43W210.37W38.44W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.972 mas

Total Proper Motion

17.754 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

11.49 mas/yr

PM Declination

-13.53 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.761 · y = 0.304 · z = -0.573

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 158.22503° · Dec -34.98991°

Galactic ℓ, b

273.274° · 19.782°

Ecliptic λ, β

176.181° · -40.316°

HTM-20 index

-1453676768

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