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Rare exoplanet 43 EP

WASP-47 b

RA 331.2031° · Dec -12.0191° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
43 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Hot Jupiter +10
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 43

7 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

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

Trivia

Hard to believe

  • It would float. It is less dense than water. Drop it in a big enough ocean and the whole world would bob on the surface.

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. Lighter than Neptune — a puffed-up ball of hydrogen and helium with no surface anywhere on it to stand on.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 4 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 11.9 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 August — that's when to go looking.

Properties

density gcc
0.993
diameter km
164044.732
discovery facility
SuperWASP
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2012
dist ly
863.5959
eccentricity
0.0006
eq temp k
1275
host star teff
5565
inclination
89
insolation
409
mag
11.936
mass earth
374
name
WASP-47 b
orbital period days
4.1592
radius earth
12.86
semi major au
0.052
spect
G9
sys num planets
4
sys num stars
1
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About WASP-47 b

WASP-47 b is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 863.6 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 11.94, has spectral type G9 and has an equilibrium temperature near 1,275 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 11.94, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, WASP-47 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-47 b is a rare exoplanet

WASP-47 b scores 43 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant, Hot Jupiter, Tidally locked, Multi-planet system 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.