WASP-6b
WASP-6b, also named Boinayel, is an exoplanet approximately 650 light years away in the constellation Aquarius. It was discovered in 2008, by the WASP survey, by astronomical transit across its parent star WASP-6. This planet orbits at only 4% of the Earth-Sun distance. The planet has a mass half that of Jupiter, but its insolation has forced a thermal expansion of its radius to greater than that of Jupiter. Thus, this planet is an inflated hot Jupiter. Starspots on the host star WASP-6 helped to refine the measurements of the mass and the radius of the planet.
Size comparison of WASP-6b with Jupiter. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Gillon et al. (SuperWASP) |
| Discovery site | SAAO |
| Discovery date | April 1, 2008 |
| Transit | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| 0.04217+0.00079 −0.0012 AU | |
| Eccentricity | <0.070 |
| 3.36100239(37) d | |
| Inclination | 88.47°+0.65° −0.47° |
| 1.70+0.12 −0.23 | |
| Semi-amplitude | 71.6+2.4 −2.6 m/s |
| Star | WASP-6 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.224+0.051 −0.052 RJ |
| Mass | 0.483+0.026 −0.030 MJ |
Mean density | 0.326+0.048 −0.043 g/cm3 |
| 0.82 g | |
| Temperature | 1235+70 −77 K (962 °C; 1,763 °F) |
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