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WASP-78

Star in the constellation Eridanus

WASP-78, is a single F-type main-sequence star about 2350 light-years away. It is likely to be younger than the Sun at 3.4+1.5
0.8
billion years. WASP-78 is depleted in heavy elements, having a 45% concentration of iron compared to the Sun.

01Planetary system

In 2012 a transiting hot Jupiter planet b was detected on a circular orbit. The planetary equilibrium temperature is 2350±80 K, while the nightside temperature measured in 2019 is 2200±41 K. The dayside planetary temperature measured in 2020 is 2,560±130 K.

A survey in 2016 measured a Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and found the planetary orbit is well aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, misalignment equal to −6.4±5.9° The planet cannot have formed in its current orbit and has likely undergone in the past a migration from the initial highly eccentric orbit.

The WASP-78 planetary system
Companion
(in order from star)
Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)
Orbital period
(days)
Eccentricity Inclination
(°)
Radius
b 0.89±0.08 MJ 0.0362±0.0008 2.17517632±0.0000047 0 83.2+2.3
1.6
1.70±0.11 RJ
Watch videos about WASP-78Explainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article WASP-78, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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