Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2020

Wendelstein-2 b

A gas giant orbiting the k-type orange Wendelstein-2, located approximately 1,844.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 12.99 Earth radii
  • A mass of 232.33 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.38 g
  • An orbital period of 1.752 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0234 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 2,470 K (2197 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,844.55 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.047
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 32,528,565 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

Wendelstein-2 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
12.99 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.159 R♃
Mass
232.33 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.731 M♃
Density
0.62 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.38 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.047
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2020
Method Transit
Facility Haleakala Observatory
Telescope 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1007of 1771

top 56.8%

This planet

12.99R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Wendelstein-2 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0012.9911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00232.33317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.621.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.382.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00282.310.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 232.334 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 209752908

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 1820764455009323392

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 1820764455009323392

System

Wendelstein-2

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 12.993 R⊕ · percentile 43 / cohort 1771
Mass 232.334 M⊕ · percentile 25 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 1.75 d · percentile 5 / cohort 1533
Distance 565.54 pc · percentile 78 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.047 · percentile 3 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.752 days
Semi-major axis
0.0234 AU
Eccentricity
0.057
Inclination
87.87 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.75 Earth days (0.5% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0234 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

7.763 %

Duration

2.171 h

Rp / R★

0.176000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,679.2544

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 77,630 ppm lasting ≈ 2.17 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.176000

RV semi-amplitude (K)

155.584 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,679.2544

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.04140

Eq. Temperature

2,470K

(2197 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

282.31

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.047

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the dayside is scorched. 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

Obermeier et al. 2020

Instrument

Gigapixel Camera 1 (GPC1)

Publication

2020-07

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: Wendelstein-2

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,591 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.660 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.730 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

Distance
565.54 parsec
Light-years 1,844.55 ly
V-band magnitude
16.19 mag
Voyager-speed travel 32,528,565 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 15 bands

9.018.318.26B16.19V15.94Gaia15.14TESS16.97Sloan g15.87Sloan r15.43Sloan i15.20Sloan z14.06J13.44H13.33K13.17W113.31W212.72W39.01W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.741 mas

Total Proper Motion

9.368 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

8.95 mas/yr

PM Declination

2.75 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.446 · y = -0.846 · z = 0.291

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 297.79092° · Dec 16.91257°

Galactic ℓ, b

54.816° · -4.977°

Ecliptic λ, β

304.017° · 37.127°

HTM-20 index

-1275544139

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