*** Welcome to piglix ***

WASP-12b

WASP-12b
Exoplanet List of exoplanets
Exoplanet Comparison WASP-12 b.png
Size comparison of WASP-12b (right) with Jupiter
Parent star
Star WASP-12
Constellation Auriga
Right ascension (α) 06h 30m 33s
Declination (δ) +29° 40′ 20″
Apparent magnitude (mV) 11.69
Distance 871 ly
(267 pc)
Spectral type G0
Mass (m) 1.35 ± 0.14 M
Radius (r) 1.57 ± 0.07 R
Temperature (T) 6300+200
−100
 K
Metallicity [Fe/H] 0.30+0.05
−0.15
Orbital elements
Semi-major axis (a) 0.0229 ± 0.0008 AU
(3.43 Gm)
    0.086 mas
Periastron (q) 0.0218 AU
(3.26 Gm)
Apastron (Q) 0.0240 AU
(3.59 Gm)
Eccentricity (e) 0.049 ± 0.015
Orbital period (P) 1.091423 ± 3e-6 d
    (26.19415 h)
Inclination (i) 83.1+1.4
−1.1
°
Argument of
periastron
(ω) -74+13
−10
°
Time of transit (Tt) 2454508.9761 ± 0.0002 JD
Physical characteristics
Mass (m) 1.39 ± 0.04MJ
Radius (r) 1.79+0.09
−0.09
RJ
Density (ρ) 326 kg m−3
Surface gravity (g) 1.16 g
Temperature (T) 2525 K
Discovery information
Discovery date April 1, 2008
Discoverer(s) Cameron et al. (SuperWASP)
Discovery method Transit
Other detection methods Radial velocity,
Orbital light variations
Discovery site SAAO
Discovery status Published
Database references
Extrasolar Planets
Encyclopaedia
data
SIMBAD data
Exoplanet Archive data
Open Exoplanet Catalogue data

WASP-12b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star WASP-12, discovered by the SuperWASP planetary transit survey. Its discovery was announced on April 1, 2008. Due to its extremely close orbit to its star, it has one of the lowest densities for exoplanets ('inflated' by the flux of energy from the star). The planet takes only a little over a day to orbit the star, in contrast to 365 days for the Earth to orbit the Sun. Its distance from the star (approximately 2,115,000 miles) is only 1/44 the Earth’s distance from the Sun, with an eccentricity the same as Jupiter's. On 3 December 2013, scientists working with the Hubble Space Telescope reported detecting water in the atmosphere of the exoplanet.

In July, 2014, NASA announced finding very dry atmospheres on three exoplanets (HD 189733b, HD 209458b, WASP-12b) orbiting sun-like stars.

The planet is so close to WASP-12 that the star's tidal forces are distorting it into an egg shape and pulling away its atmosphere at a rate of about 10−7MJ (about 189 quadrillion tonnes) per year. The so-called "tidal heating", and the proximity of the planet to its star, combine to bring the surface temperature to more than 2,500 K (2,200 °C).

On May 20, 2010, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted WASP-12b being "consumed" by its star. Scientists had been aware that stars could consume planets; however, this was the first time such an event had been observed so clearly. NASA has estimated that the planet has 10 million years left of its life.


...
Wikipedia

...