Exoplanet · gas giant
WASP-46 b
WASP-46 b is a gas giant orbiting the star WASP-46. Its year lasts 1.43 Earth days. It was discovered in 2011 by the Transit method.
| Host star | WASP-46 |
|---|---|
| Distance | 1,224 light-years (375.3 pc) |
| Orbital period | 34.3 hours |
| Orbital radius | 0.0234 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.000 |
| Radius | 13.2 R⊕ · 1.17 R♃ |
| Mass | 607 M⊕ · 1.91 M♃ |
| Density | 1.47 g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 3.51 × Earth |
| Equilibrium temperature | 1,636 K (1,363 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 1,280 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Transit |
| Discovery year | 2011 |
| Discovered by | SuperWASP |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 1,280 times the light the Earth does, too hot to keep liquid water on its surface.
Its star in the sky
In the planet's sky its star is a disc 19° across: 36 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 13.04. Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 34° N. South of latitude 34° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in August, the best time to observe it.
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 802. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 22 million years.
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.