WASP-193b
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Khalid Barkaoui et al. |
| Discovery date | July 2023 (announced) |
| Transit method | |
| Designations | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| 0.0676±0.0015 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0560+0.0680 −0.0400 |
| 6.2463345(3) d | |
| Inclination | 88.49°+0.78° −0.49° |
| Semi-amplitude | 14.8±3.0 m/s |
| Star | WASP-193 |
| Physical characteristics[1] | |
| 1.464+0.059 −0.057 RJ | |
| Mass | 0.139±0.029 MJ |
Mean density | 0.059+0.015 −0.013 g/cm3 |
| Temperature | 1254±31 K (981 °C; 1,798 °F, equilibrium) |
WASP-193b is a hot, transiting gas giant planet located approximately 1,232 light-years (378 pc) away in the constellation of Hydra, orbiting the F-type star WASP-193. Its discovery was made by the WASP-South transit survey and announced in 2023. The planet is extremely bloated, with a radius nearly 50% larger than Jupiter despite having only 14% of its mass. This places its density at 0.059 g/cm3, the second lowest of any known exoplanet as of May 2024 after Kepler-51d, and comparable to that of cotton candy (about 0.05 g/cm3).
Discovery
The planet was discovered in July 2023 by a team of astronomers led by Khalid Barkaoui, a researcher at the University of Liège, from observational data taken by WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) in 2006–2008 and 2011–2012. It is one of hundreds discovered in the WASP mission, which uses transit photometry to find exoplanets; observing the dimming of a star caused by the astronomical transit of planets passing in front of them.
The discovery was subsequently confirmed photometrically by TRAPPIST-South, SPECULOOS-South, and the TESS mission, as well as through spectroscopic observations by HARPS and the CORALIE spectrograph of the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope.
Physical characteristics
WASP-193b has a radius of 1.464 RJ (104664 km; 16.41 R🜨).[4] meaning the planet is 3.138 times more voluminous than Jupiter.[a] Despite its enormous size, the planet only has a mass of 0.139 MJ (44.2 ME; 2.58 times that of Neptune), making it a super-Neptune, which typically have less than half the radius (5-7 R🜨).[5]
The planet revolves around the star at a distance of just 0.0676 AU (10,110,000 km), over five times closer than Mercury is to the Sun (0.3871 AU). As a result, WASP-193b receives approximately 410 times more irradiance than the solar constant (i.e., the amount of energy Earth receives from the Sun per given area), placing its equilibrium temperature at a smoldering 1,254 K (981 °C; 1,798 °F), hot enough to melt silver.
Host star
The planet orbits
See also
- Other giant planets with similarly low densities:
- Kepler-51 b, c, d: three Jupiter-sized super-puff planets.
- WASP-17b, HAT-P-67b: puffy planets that are among the largest exoplanets despite having Saturn-like masses.
Footnotes
References
- ^ a b c Barkaoui, Khalid; Pozuelos, Francisco J.; Hellier, Coel; et al. (2023-07-17). "WASP-193b: An extremely low-density super-Neptune". arXiv:2307.08350 [astro-ph.EP].
- ^ a b c d "WASP-193". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "WASP-193b Overview". NASA Exoplanet Archive. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ Williams, Dr. David R. (2007-11-02). "Jupiter Fact Sheet". NASA. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ "Super-Neptune Planet Found". Space.com. 14 March 2009.