Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

WISEP J121756.91+162640.2 A b

A gas giant orbiting the t-type brown dwarf WISEP J121756.91+162640.2 A, located approximately 32.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 10.47 Earth radii
  • A mass of 6,992.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 63.81 g
  • Semi-major axis 8.0000 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 450 K (177 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 32.94 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.250
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 580,928 years

WISEP J121756.91+162640.2 A b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
10.47 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.934 R♃
Mass
6,992.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
22.000 M♃
Density
33.50 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
63.81 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.250
HZ Position Unknown
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Imaging
Facility W. M. Keck Observatory
Telescope 10 m Keck II Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1733of 1771

top 97.8%

This planet

10.47R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth WISEP J121756.91+162640.2 A b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0010.4711.21
Mass (M⊕)1.006,992.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.5133.501.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.0063.812.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 6,992.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 10.468 R⊕ · percentile 2 / cohort 1771
Mass 6,992.000 M⊕ · percentile 98 / cohort 1747
Distance 10.10 pc · percentile 1 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.250 · percentile 45 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
days
Semi-major axis
8.0000 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
°

Year Length

Orbital period for this planet has not yet been measured.

Eq. Temperature

450K

(177 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.250

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Liu et al. 2013

Instrument

NIRC2 Camera

Publication

2012-10

Observation locale

Ground

Discovery cohort

Planets confirmed in 2012 at W. M. Keck Observatory (2 shown).

Host System: WISEP J121756.91+162640.2 A

Spectral Class

T-type brown dwarf

Effective Temperature

575 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

6.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.091 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.029 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

Distance
10.10 parsec
Light-years 32.94 ly
V-band magnitude
mag
Voyager-speed travel 580,928 yr

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