NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork)WASP-96b
The planet behind JWST's first published exoplanet spectrum
Overview
WASP-96b is a gas giant exoplanet. Its mass is 0.48 times that of Jupiter. It is 0.0453 AU from the class G star WASP-96, which it orbits every 3.4 days. It is about 1,140 light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Phoenix. It was discovered in 2013 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP).
Source: Wikipedia
NASA: WASP-96 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a G-type star. Its mass is 0.48 Jupiters, it takes 3.4 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0453 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2014.
Why it matters
- Its water-vapour spectrum was among JWST's first science images released in July 2022.
- Earlier VLT data suggested a cloud-free atmosphere with a strong sodium signature.
- A hot, puffy Saturn-mass planet about 1,150 light-years away.
NASA puts it this way: “An international team found that WASP-96b is a world with a sodium rich atmosphere. The planet, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days. It has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014. ”
Discovery & system
- Discovered
- 2014 · Transit · SuperWASP
- Discovery paper
- Hellier et al. 2014
- Host star
- WASP-96 · G8 · 5,540 K · 1.06 M☉
- System
- 1 known planet
The system
| World | Period | Distance | Radius | Mass | Temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WASP-96 b | 3.43 d | 0.045 AU | 1.2 R♃ | 0.48 M♃ | 1,285 K |
By the numbers
- Radius
- 1.2 R♃13.5 R⊕
- Mass
- 0.48 M♃153 M⊕
- Orbital period
- 3.43 d0.01 yr
- Distance from star
- 0.045 AU6.78 million km
- Eccentricity
- 0nearly circular
- Equilibrium temp.
- 1,285 K1,012 °C
- Starlight received
- 517 × Earth
- Distance from Earth
- 1,150 ly352.5 pc
- Density
- 0.37 g/cm³0.07 × 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.