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Epic exoplanet 55 EP

WASP-8 b

RA 359.9009° · Dec -35.0313° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 7 badges
55 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • Two suns in its sky +12
  • Hot Jupiter +10
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 55

23 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Hot Jupiter · +10
  • Tidally locked · +10
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8
  • Two suns in its sky · +12

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Hugging its star. It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.
  • What it is made of. Too light to be solid rock and too heavy to be all gas: most likely a deep global ocean or a thick steamy envelope over a rocky core.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 2 planets orbiting its star.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 9.8 you'll want a small backyard telescope.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around September — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

density gcc
2.1
diameter km
161572.1978
discovery facility
SuperWASP
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2010
dist ly
293.4119
eccentricity
0.31
eq temp k
1059
host star teff
5600
inclination
88.55
insolation
209.118
mag
9.789
mass earth
807.2882
multi star system
yes
name
WASP-8 b
orbital period days
8.1587
radius earth
12.6662
semi major au
0.0801
spect
G8 V
sys num planets
2
sys num stars
2
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About WASP-8 b

WASP-8 b is an epic exoplanet. It lies about 293.4 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 9.79, has spectral type G8 V and has an equilibrium temperature near 1,059 K.

It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 9.79, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, WASP-8 b is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why WASP-8 b is an epic exoplanet

WASP-8 b scores 55 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 23 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 7 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant, Hot Jupiter, Tidally locked, Multi-planet system, Orbits a Sun-like star and Two suns in its sky — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.