NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork)WD 1856+534 b
An intact giant planet orbiting a dead white dwarf every 34 hours
Overview
WD 1856+534 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a WD-type star. Its mass is 13.8 Jupiters, it takes 1.4 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0204 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2020.
Source: NASA Exoplanet Catalog
Why it matters
- Found by TESS in 2020: the first intact planet seen transiting a white dwarf, blocking most of the star's light.
- It must have migrated inward after the star's red-giant phase, which would have destroyed anything in its current orbit.
- JWST measured its faint thermal glow in 2025, making it one of the coldest exoplanets ever directly detected.
NASA puts it this way: “WD 1856+534 b is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits a white dwarf star. Its mass is 13.8 Jupiters, it takes 1.4 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.0204 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2020.”
Discovery & system
- Discovered
- 2020 · Transit · Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
- Discovery paper
- Vanderburg et al. 2020
- Host star
- WD 1856+534 · DC · 4,710 K · 0.52 M☉
- System
- 1 known planet, 3 stars
The system
| World | Period | Distance | Radius | Mass | Temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD 1856+534 b | 1.41 d | 0.02 AU | 0.93 R♃ | 13.8 M♃ | 163 K |
this worldhabitable zone 0.0083 AU – 0.015 AUlog distance scaleorbital phases are arbitrarystar: DC, 4,710 K
By the numbers
- Radius
- 0.93 R♃10.4 R⊕
- Mass
- 13.8 M♃4,386 M⊕
- Orbital period
- 1.41 d0 yr
- Distance from star
- 0.02 AU3.05 million km
- Eccentricity
- 0nearly circular
- Equilibrium temp.
- 163 K-110 °C
- Starlight received
- 0.18 × Earth
- Distance from Earth
- 80.7 ly24.7 pc
- Density
- 21.4 g/cm³3.88 × Earth
Sources
Image: NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork) · NASA media: generally free of copyright · image page
Text: NASA Exoplanet Catalog. Taglines and highlights are editorial.