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Rare exoplanet 41 EP

HAT-P-21 b

RA 171.2749° · Dec 41.0280° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
41 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Lava world +14
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 41

9 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Lava world · +14
  • Tidally locked · +10
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Lava world. Its surface is almost certainly an ocean of molten rock, kept liquid by the star it hugs.

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. Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.

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 11.5 you'll want a small backyard telescope.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around March — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

density gcc
3.6338
diameter km
158712.5128
discovery facility
HATNet
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2010
dist ly
904.3588
eccentricity
0.23
eq temp k
1367
host star teff
5588
inclination
87.2
insolation
459.542
mag
11.459
mass earth
1547.8321
name
HAT-P-21 b
orbital period days
4.1245
radius earth
12.442
semi major au
0.0504
spect
G3
sys num planets
1
sys num stars
1
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About HAT-P-21 b

HAT-P-21 b is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 904.4 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 11.46, has spectral type G3 and has an equilibrium temperature near 1,367 K.

Its surface is almost certainly an ocean of molten rock, kept liquid by the star it hugs.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 11.46, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, HAT-P-21 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 HAT-P-21 b is a rare exoplanet

HAT-P-21 b scores 41 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant, Lava world, Tidally locked and Orbits a Sun-like star — 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.