NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork)WASP-103b
The first planet seen squashed into a rugby ball by its star's tides
Overview
WASP-103b is an ultra-hot Jupiter orbiting around WASP-103, a late F8V-type main sequence star located in the Constellation of Hercules. It orbits at a distance of 0.019 AU with an eccentricity of 0.15. It significantly larger than Jupiter being roughly 1.5 times its mass and 1.6 times its radius. The planet has an oval shape similar to that of a rugby ball. This is due to the force of gravity exerted by its parent star. It is the first exoplanet to have a deformation detected.
Source: Wikipedia
NASA: WASP-103 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a F-type star. Its mass is 1.49 Jupiters, it takes 0.9 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.01985 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2014.
Why it matters
- ESA's CHEOPS measured its deformation in 2022 from subtle changes in the transit shape.
- Orbits in under a day, so close that tidal forces stretch it noticeably.
- Its measured 'squishiness' hints at an interior structure like Jupiter's.
NASA puts it this way: “WASP-103 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits an F-type star. Its mass is 1.49 Jupiters, it takes 0.9 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.01985 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2014.”
Discovery & system
- Discovered
- 2014 · Transit · SuperWASP
- Discovery paper
- Gillon et al. 2014
- Host star
- WASP-103 · F8 V · 6,110 K · 1.22 M☉
- System
- 1 known planet
The system
| World | Period | Distance | Radius | Mass | Temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WASP-103 b | 22.2 h | 0.02 AU | 1.53 R♃ | 1.49 M♃ | 2,508 K |
By the numbers
- Radius
- 1.53 R♃17.1 R⊕
- Mass
- 1.49 M♃474 M⊕
- Orbital period
- 22.2 h
- Distance from star
- 0.02 AU2.97 million km
- Eccentricity
- 0nearly circular
- Equilibrium temp.
- 2,508 K2,235 °C
- Starlight received
- 6,569 × Earth
- Distance from Earth
- 1,225 ly375.6 pc
- Density
- 0.55 g/cm³0.1 × Earth
Sources
Image: NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork) · NASA media: generally free of copyright · image page
Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Taglines and highlights are editorial.