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Exoplanetary Scratchpad

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List of transiting planets based on their characteristics.


Mass/Radius/Density/Temperature Classes[]

Transiting Brown Dwarves[]

  • CoRoT-15 System (Jun 10) - Transiting Brown Dwarf discovered by CoRoT along with 7 transiting exoplanets around different stars. It is 60 times as massive as Jupiter.

Hot Super Jupiters[]

Planets that have several Jupiter masses, but are about the same radius as Jupiter, and thus have high densities.

  • CoRoT-3 System (Oct 08) - A star with possibly the most massive planet known at 20 Jupiters and most dense at about Jupiter's radius. The planet is technically classified as a brown dwarf, but they haven't ruled out it being a planet. It could be the first of a class of massive planets orbiting stars more massive than the Sun. It's the first object found with a period of less than ten days greater than 12J and less than 70J.
  • WASP-10 System (Oct 08) - System that contains a super Jupiter around an orange star. At first believed to be inflated, but later found to be smaller. Has a density similar to the moon. Has a candidate planet detected by the Transit Timing Variation method.
  • CoRoT-14 System (Jun 10) - One of seven transiting exoplanet systems discovered by CoRoT announced in Jun 2010. Has a similar size to Jupiter, but is 7.5 times as massive and 6 times as dense. This is only the second such very hot planet discovered.

Very Hot Super Jupiters[]

  • SWEEPS 11 System - Super Very Hot Jovian detected 8500 parsecs away in the galactic bulge. One of only 2 transit candidates bright enough to be confirmed with radial velocity technique.
  • WASP-18 System - A hot F6 star that has an Inflated Very Hot Super Jupiter that is only 2.5 stellar radii from its host star. It may perish soon once it reaches its star's roche limit, but astronomers are puzzled why it hasn't already. Because it orbits much faster than its star rotates, tidal effects should be causing it to fall inwards. Further observations should reveal its rate of decay. Has the shortest period of any Hot Jupiter at the time of its discovery in 2009 (22hours). Extremely hot because of its close distance and brightness of its star, reaches 3000K. A very large planet with 70% more radius than Jupiter and 40% more mass. Very near to the Roche limit, it is expected to be elongated (football shaped). Initially thought to be slightly eccentric, this is not the case.

Inflated Hot Super Jupiters[]

  • OGLE2-TR L9 System - First planet discovered around a rapidly rotating hot star and the hottest star with planets. Was detected by students while testing a method for investigating light fluctuations in the OGLE database. An inflated hot super Jupiter. Nicknamed "ReMeFra-1" for its discoverers.

Inflated Very Hot Super Jupiters[]

  • WASP-3 System - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating. Like the other two, WASP-4 and 5, it is incapable of radiating away heat from its star and instead swells up to significantly larger than Jupiter. This is a planet 81% more massive than Jupiter with 13% larger radius going around in just less day 2 days. Its transit time varies by up to 3 minutes, which indicates that a further planet may be in this system. This would be a further Neptunian planet and would be the first exoplanet detected by measuring eclipse timing deviations of an earlier discovered planet (Transit Timing Variation method). Further observations are needed to confirm the planet, but the best fit is that it is in 2:1 resonance with the larger planet. Planet b found to be in a low inclination prograde orbit with respect to its star's equator.
  • CoRoT-2 System - A younger version of the Sun with a transiting Inflated Hot Super Jupiter 880ly away. This planet has been used to identify star spots on its surface. It was found to be blasted with x-rays 100,000 times more powerful than the Earth is by the Sun, which is blasting 5 million tons of matter of the planet into space every second. The planet is unusually inflated for its distance. The system is believed to be 100 and 300 Million years old, young, but fully formed. The planet is 3 times as massive as Jupiter and orbits the planet about 10 Earth-Moon distances away. Its proximity may be speeding up its star, keeping its magnetic field active, and maintaining its volatility.
  • WASP-33 System - Aka HD 15082, this is the only known Delta Scuti variable star (kA5 hA8 mF4) known to host a planet. The star is much hotter than the Sun and 50% more massive. The planet is a retrograde inflated hot super Jupiter and is by far hottest measured exoplanet (3150C), 900C hotter than WASP-12b, and hotter than some red dwarf stars. It is one of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. The planet may be responsible for the star's pulsations.

Eccentric Super Jupiters[]

  • HAT-P-2 System (May 07) - Hat-P-2b (aka HD 147506b) is the most massive measured exoplanet discovered that is clearly not a Brown Dwarf and the first transiting Hot Super Planet discovered. It is the first known transiting planet with a significantly eccentric orbit (2.8 to 9.3 million miles) and experiences significant seasons. It briefly held the record of furthest out transiting planet. It takes about a day to heat up and 4-5 days to cool down. Spitzer can measure different depths with different infrared wavelengths. Its temperature was mapped out. Its daytime is as high as 2400K, while its night is 1200K. It would have winds blowing thousands of miles per hour.
  • HD 17156 System (Oct 07) - Star system containing a planet discovered by dopplar spectrometry method and later found by amateurs to transit. At the time, it smashed the records for the furthest transiting planet (period of 21 d, 0.0523 to 0.26 AU) and most eccentric orbit. Its orbit was found to be well aligned with the rotation of its star. Its size has been measured better with the Hubble Telescope (3.8 MJ). A second, unconfirmed planet has also been proposed for this system.
  • XO-3 System - Planet is the first transiting object with mass on the borderline between being a planet and a Brown Dwarf. The largest known planet in a torch orbit at time of its discovery. Found to be inclined to its star 37degrees, while every other torch planet aligns with their star's equator. Heat received from star varies three-fold due to its eccentricity. Larger than models predict. Has a temperature inversion in its stratosphere.

Inflated Very Hot Jupiters[]

  • HD 189733 System (Dec 2005, retracted 2006) - A binary star in Velpulca (the "little fox") consisting of an Orange Dwarf star A and a Red Dwarf B (discovered shortly after planet Ab found and orbiting perpendicular to that planet's orbit and later detected in x-rays) orbiting 216 AU away. Planet Ab (the first nearby Very Hot Jupiter, originally thought to be inflated, is 13% larger and more massive than Jupiter) is the nearest transiting Hot Jupiter (62.9 ly). This is the first exoplanet to have its temperature mapped and was nicknamed Bull's Eye for its hot spot that is significantly offset from the starward pole. 5 years later, it later became the first world to have its thermal emissions mapped in both longtitude and latitude, confirming the hot spot was near the equator. Fast winds are thought to make the temperature of the eternal day and night sides nearly identical, which were later measured to be 2km/s when the planet became the first to have its wind and weather patterns mapped. It is also the first exoplanet for which scattered light in the upper atmosphere has been detected and the second exoplanet with water detected and first with Methane and then Carbon Dioxide detected. It later was the first exoplanet whose gasses were detected from Earth-based telescopes. It was also found to spin up its star and magnetically interact with it, causing stellar storms. Massive X-class solar flares blast off much of the planet's atmosphere and may render it undetectable. Hubble found that its atmosphere was a uniform blue haze. Blue was detected by determining which wavelengths were blocked during a transit. It was also found to rain molten glass, sideways, with 7000 km/hr winds and 1000C. It became the first exoplanet whose transit was detected in X-Rays, which revealed it had a very large extended outer atmosphere, which is losing material rapidly. The star is much more magnetically active for its age, possibly due to the planet's presence. There is speculation that it could have large planet-wide auroras. It's already-known mass was measured using an atmospheric pressure method to test its viability. By studying sodium spectra, it was determined that it gets hotter with altitude.
  • CoRoT-1 System (May 07) -
  1. REDIRECT Corot-exo-1 System
  • WASP-3 System (Oct 07) - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating. Like the other two, WASP-4 and 5, it is incapable of radiating away heat from its star and instead swells up to significantly larger than Jupiter. This is a planet 81% more massive than Jupiter with 13% larger radius going around in just less day 2 days. Its transit time varies by up to 3 minutes, which indicates that a further planet may be in this system. This would be a further Neptunian planet and would be the first exoplanet detected by measuring eclipse timing deviations of an earlier discovered planet (Transit Timing Variation method). Further observations are needed to confirm the planet, but the best fit is that it is in 2:1 resonance with the larger planet. Planet b found to be in a low inclination prograde orbit with respect to its star's equator.
  • WASP-4 System (Oct 07) - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating.
  • WASP-12 System (Oct 08) - The shortest period transiting Hot Jupiter known when discovered in 2008 and the first carbon-rich planet ever found (more Carbon than Oxygen). One of the two largest known planets at 1.79 Jupiter radii. Hottest known exoplanet at time of its discovery. Planet is being ripped apart by star. It is stretched in the shape of a rugby ball and leaves a ring around its star. Huge cloud of material detected around the planet containing elements never before detected on an exoplanet. This cloud is much larger than expected, and shrouds the entire star, making it undetectable at some wavelengths. Studying this cloud could reveal magnetic properties of the stellar system. Magnesium found in this shroud supports the blow-off theory where Hydrogen escapes from the planet so quickly other material is blown off with it. Two other Hot Jupiters are known to have planetary enveloping clouds, and others as close are expected to have similar system wide clouds, but not those further away. It has much more methane than water vapor. It may produce shock waves as it plows through its star's stellar wind (the first evidence of shocks around an exoplanet, like Earth and Saturn's bowshocks), possibly produced by a strong planetary magnetic field. This could protect its atmosphere from being stripped away. It could have a diamond core and other terrestrial planets in system would have black spots on them and also be carbon based. One of 5 exoplanets whose water abundance was measured by Hubble in 2013 and found to be less abundant than expected, probably due to a layer of haze or dust blocking detection..

Very Hot Jupiters[]

  • OGLE-TR-56 System (2002) - Contains first planet discovered by transit and later confirmed by Dopplar Spectroscopy (rather than the other way around). The first OGLE planet confirmed with the Dopplar method. It is 6000 ly away, 10 times as far as any previous known planet, in a different arm of the galaxy. Also the first Very Hot Jupiter and the first non-inflated Hot Jupiter discovered. It may meet its doom in less than a million years. Planet has one of the first two ground-detected atmospheres. Has an atmosphere hotter than any other measured so far. Unlike other hot Jupiters observed, it is way too hot for clouds of silicon or iron to form which would keep it dark.
  • OGLE-TR-113 System (2003) - A binary orange dwarf star 1800 ly away in a crowded star field in Carina. It contains the second discovered Very Hot Jupiter (34 hours, 0.023 au, 1.3 MJ) and one of the first discovered transiting planets. At one time it was the only known transiting Hot Jupiter with a surface gravity greater than Jupiter's. Between 2002 and 2009, its transit times were found to shorten by 60 ms per earth year. This indicates that it is slowly spiraling towards its sun, the first exoplanet found to be doing this, and may get ripped apart by its star in 1.4 million years, when its period is reduced to 10.8 hours. An alternate explanation may be that an unseen planetary companion is causing the timing differences.
  • OGLE-TR-132 System (2003) - Has the third discovered Very Hot Jupiter, validating the believability of the first one found. Transit timing analysis showed no variation, placing limits on further out planets.
  • HD 189733 System (Dec 05) - A binary star in Velpulca (the "little fox") consisting of an Orange Dwarf star A and a Red Dwarf B (discovered shortly after planet Ab found and orbiting perpendicular to that planet's orbit and later detected in x-rays) orbiting 216 AU away. Planet Ab (the first nearby Very Hot Jupiter, originally thought to be inflated, is 13% larger and more massive than Jupiter) is the nearest transiting Hot Jupiter (62.9 ly). This is the first exoplanet to have its temperature mapped and was nicknamed Bull's Eye for its hot spot that is significantly offset from the starward pole. 5 years later, it later became the first world to have its thermal emissions mapped in both longtitude and latitude, confirming the hot spot was near the equator. Fast winds are thought to make the temperature of the eternal day and night sides nearly identical, which were later measured to be 2km/s when the planet became the first to have its wind and weather patterns mapped. It is also the first exoplanet for which scattered light in the upper atmosphere has been detected and the second exoplanet with water detected and first with Methane and then Carbon Dioxide detected. It later was the first exoplanet whose gasses were detected from Earth-based telescopes. It was also found to spin up its star and magnetically interact with it, causing stellar storms. Massive X-class solar flares blast off much of the planet's atmosphere and may render it undetectable. Hubble found that its atmosphere was a uniform blue haze. Blue was detected by determining which wavelengths were blocked during a transit. It was also found to rain molten glass, sideways, with 7000 km/hr winds and 1000C. It became the first exoplanet whose transit was detected in X-Rays, which revealed it had a very large extended outer atmosphere, which is losing material rapidly. The star is much more magnetically active for its age, possibly due to the planet's presence. There is speculation that it could have large planet-wide auroras. It's already-known mass was measured using an atmospheric pressure method to test its viability. By studying sodium spectra, it was determined that it gets hotter with altitude.
  • TrES-3 System (May 07) - Has planet TrES-3, the most massive transiting Very Hot Jupiter planet. Planet has one of the first two ground-detected atmospheres. A large ground-based telescope method of observation was pioneered on this planet.
  • WASP-3 System (Oct 07) - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating. Like the other two, WASP-4 and 5, it is incapable of radiating away heat from its star and instead swells up to significantly larger than Jupiter. This is a planet 81% more massive than Jupiter with 13% larger radius going around in just less day 2 days. Its transit time varies by up to 3 minutes, which indicates that a further planet may be in this system. This would be a further Neptunian planet and would be the first exoplanet detected by measuring eclipse timing deviations of an earlier discovered planet (Transit Timing Variation method). Further observations are needed to confirm the planet, but the best fit is that it is in 2:1 resonance with the larger planet. Planet b found to be in a low inclination prograde orbit with respect to its star's equator.

Inflated Hot Jupiters[]

Hot Jupiters with large radius that cannot be explained by energy recieved.

  • HD 209458 System (1999)- Has first discovered transiting planet which was nicknamed Osiris due to the (first detected) comet-like tail detected and the first exoplanet around a normal star to have its mass directly measured. Also the first Inflated Hot Jupiter found. The planet may be losing its outer atmosphere, or magnetism may prevent the ions from escaping. They detected water in its atmosphere (they had failed earlier), the first time this has been done for any exoplanet. 2nd Exoplanet with detected organic compounds; like HD 189733b, it has water and carbon dioxide, but it has a lot more Methane. Was one of 2 planets to have light directly taken and thus their temperatures read (over 1000K). Tracking carbon molecules with dopplar spectrometry caused it to be the first exoplanet detected to have winds, which are raging at 5,000 to 10,000 km/h. This is believed to cause hotspots to appear at terminators rather than at the star-ward facing point. Had one of the strongest water detection of the 5 exoplanets contrasted by Hubble in 2013, though still less intense than expected, probably due to dust clouds or a haze blocking its detection.
  • OGLE-TR-10 System (Apr 2005, retracted 2005, reinstated 2006 but uncertainties in radius) - Contains a bloated Hot Jupiter expected to be losing its atmosphere. Noted for its similarity to the first transiting exoplanet. Thought to not be so bloated, but then confirmed to really be bloated. Found to have the lowest measured surface gravity of any of the transiting exoplanets, considerably less than Earth. 5th confirmed OGLE planet. The first star observed to experience a stellar flare during the transit of one of its planets. The star is suggested to be active and have a high x-ray luminosity.
  • HAT-P-1 System (Sep 06, retracted Jul 07) - A stellar binary believed to contain the planet with the biggest known diameter and the least dense. This would have been only the second planet with such a low density. Later measurements showed it wasn't that inflated, and has the expected radius for a highly irradiated core-less Hot Jupiter.
  • WASP-1 System (Sep 06) - Has the first planet detected by the WASP program, which is the third "inflated" Hot Jupiter detected, which suggested these planets were fairly common. It was nicknamed "Garafía-1" after the municipality that hosts the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory. Was the largest known exoplanet for about a year. Shows signs of atmospheric blow-off.
  • TrES-4 System (Aug 07) - Contains the transiting planet TrES-4, the largest (volume) exo-planet at the time of its discovery, orbiting a sub-giant star.
  • HAT-P-4 System (Oct 07) - A low-density inflated Hot Jupiter around a metal-rich star. Its presumed high level of heavy elements presents a challenge for explaining Inflated Hot Jupiters. Perhaps it has both a dense core and an inflated radius?
  • HAT-P-6 System (Oct 07) - An inflated Hot Jupiter (1.33 JR) around a bright F-type star. It's Jupiter-like mass (1.06 MJ) is higher than the other 5 low-density inflated Hot Jupiters known at the time of its discovery in 2007. Its star is one of the most metal-poor ones hosting a transiting planet. A small dense core is expected.
  • OGLE-TR-211 System (Nov 07) - Contains the 7th discovered OGLE transiting planet. Has 20% greater radius than Jupiter and is thus classified as an inflated hot jupiter.
  • XO-4 System (May 08) - System that contains an inflated Hot Jupiter.
  • WASP-10 System (Oct 08, retracted 2009) - System that contains a super Jupiter around an orange star. At first believed to be inflated, but later found to be smaller. Has a density similar to the moon. Has a candidate planet detected by the Transit Timing Variation method.
  • WASP-17 System - An F6 type star which has the first exoplanet discovered in a retrograde orbit. Also the largest known exoplanet at 1.74 RJ and 0.5 JM. Discovered by transit. It may be "flipping" its star's axis. Orbit hints at a near planetary collision in its early years. One of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. It was found to be abundant in CO, depleted in water and methane. It lacks a prominent stratosphere and has efficient day-night energy circulation. Had one of the strongest water detection of the 5 exoplanets contrasted by Hubble in 2013, though still less intense than expected, probably due to dust clouds or a haze blocking its detection.
  • HAT-P-7 System (Aug 09) - F8 star also known as GSC 03547-01402 containing a transiting Hot Jupiter and an outer Jovian and a further out stellar companion. Transiting planet was used as a test for the Kepler mission (dubbed Kepler 2), which was able to detect the planet's occulation, as well as evidence of phases. Very little of its heat is transported to its night side, with its hottest spot being 1,300 F hotter than its coldest spot. Extremely strong easterly winds are produced as a result, but the planet's magnetic field has been shown to disrupt the direction of these winds at some times. This is because the high temperatures strip electrons from the atmospheric atoms of lithium, sodium, and potassium, making them positively charged, which follow the magnetic field lines. The stronger field lines may completely reverse the direction of the winds. Variation in brightness has been thought to be due to clouds of corundum (which emeralds and sapphires are made of) being blown into the dayside by the winds and then dissipating in the intense heat. Its atmosphere could be made up of exotic gases like Titanium Oxide. The Hubble Space Telescope made its 1,000,000th science observation on this planet in the attempt to detect water in its atmosphere. The planet may "lift" its stars surface up gravitationally, reducing its temperature a fraction of a degree in a darkened spot that lags a few hours behind the planet. It was found by a Japanese team to be orbiting backwards only a day after the first retrograde exoplanet WASP-17b was announced. The Japanese team inspected two stars nearby, measured their proper motions, and found that one of them was a member of the system. They also confirmed an outer radial velocity detected Jovian between the planet c and companion star B. Star B is suspected of tilting planet c's orbit, which in turn affected planet b's orbit and caused it to orbit backwards.
  • HAT-P-9 System (Jan 09) - System that contains an inflated Hot Jupiter around a moderately faint F star.
  • CoRoT-12 System (Jun 10) - One of seven transiting exoplanet systems discovered by CoRoT announced in Jun 2010. Orbits close to its star. A bloated Hot Jupiter, its diameter is 150% that of Jupiter's.

Normal Hot Jupiters[]

Hot Jupiters whose radius conforms radiative theories.

  • TrES-1 System (Aug 2004) - Contains the first transiting exoplanet discovered with the TrES amateur equipment and second transiting exoplanet close enough to have its atmosphere studied. It is the first Hot Jupiter that had the expected radius. Was the one of the first two exoplanets to have its light separated from its host star. Has a cloud or torus of particles around it. Tidal heating is predicted due to its eccentric orbit, but this has not seem to have inflated its radius.
  • OGLE-TR-111 System (Sep 2004) - A yellow dwarf with a Hot Jupiter about half Jupiter's mass. Has the first OGLE-detected transiting "normal" Hot Jupiter (the others had unusually short periods). Data suggests the presence of a second planet, which, if confirmed, would make this the first system with more than one transiting planet.
  • TrES-2 System (Sep 06) - Contains TrES-2, which was the most massive nearby transiting planet until the discovery of Hat-P-2 b. It has a large radius for a planet not considered inflated. A large ground-based telescope method of observation was pioneered on this planet. Since its in Keplar's field of view, it was observed by it as a test subject and dubbed Kepler1b. A second planet is possibly responsible for fluctuations in the first's inclination. Kepler determined that it is the darkest known planet, blacker than coal, due to its extremely low dimming and brightening detected during transits. It would appear black except for some faint red tinge. This conflicts with current theories, which thought that a Hot Jupiter could only get as dark as Mercury. It appears that the planet is too hot for reflective clouds to form and instead its atmosphere contains light-absorbing chemicals. An off-the-cuff nickname Erebus (Greek god of darkness) has been suggested. It was also the first planet whose phases have been detected.
  • HAT-P-1 System (2006) - A stellar binary believed to contain the planet with the biggest known diameter and the least dense. This would have been only the second planet with such a low density. Later measurements showed it wasn't that inflated, and has the expected radius for a highly irradiated core-less Hot Jupiter.
  • HAT-P-5 System (2007) - A Jupiter-like Hot Jupiter transiting a bright star.
  • OGLE-TR-182 System (Oct 2007) - Contains the 6th discovered OGLE transiting planet. It is considered a typical hot jupiter.

Dense Core Hot Jupiters[]

  • WASP-2 System (Sep 06) - Contains second planet discovered by WASP program. This planet is a rather heavy transiting planet, has a large rocky core, and conforms to present models (in contrast to WASP-1). One of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. Shows signs of atmospheric blow-off.
  • HD 149026 System (May 07) - Ogma (HD 149026) is a yellow sub-giant star with the first known Saturn mass transiting planet, Smertrios. Also the first planet found with a dense core, leading credence to the core-accretion theory. Sometimes called a Super-Neptune, though it is not known if its core is rocky or icy. Also the first TEP discovered smaller than Jupiter. It was revealed to be as black as coal, twice as hot as any other known exoplanet, and hotter than some stars. One of the first 20 exoplanet systems allowed to be given common names by the IAU. The star is named after a Celtic god of eloquence, writing, and great physical strength, while the planet was named after a Gallic deity of war.
  • HAT-P-3 System (Jun 07) - A heavy-element rich planet transiting a metal rich K dwarf star. Its small size 0.89 JR for its mass 0.6 MJ indicates it has a rocky core.
  • CoRoT-13 System (Jun 10) - One of seven transiting exoplanet systems discovered by CoRoT announced in Jun 2010. Smaller than Jupiter, but twice as dense, suggesting a massive rocky core.

Super Neptunes[]

Planets smaller than Jupiter, but larger than Neptune. They are massive and dense, indicating a large rocky or icy core.

  • Gliese 436 System (May 07) - AC+27°28217 is best known as Gliese 436. The second known red dwarf planetary system. Contains one of the first Neptunians discovered and a few potential planets. The star is about half the sun's mass. It is over 11 Billion years old and may be a part of the old disk of the Milky Way. Planet b temporarily later found to be the smallest exoplanet (about Uranus' diameter, though over 50% its mass) known to transit its host star and is currently the nearest (33 ly). Its temperature (712K) was measured to be higher than what it would be purely from radiation (520K), perhaps due to a greenhouse effect, somewhat higher than Venus. It was originally thought to have a layer of "hot ice", water solidified due to high pressures. It turned out that it was larger than thought and hot ice was not needed. It could still be a rocky super-Earth. It was later found to have a remarkably low levels of Methane and high levels of Carbon Monoxide for its 800K temperature. Possible explanations include Methane being changed into hydrocarbon polymers due to its star's ultraviolet radiation, CO being drafted upwards with winds, or observational defects. Later, due to lack of detection of chemical signatures through the backlit atmosphere, it was concluded that high altitude clouds, perhaps made of potassium chloride or zink sulphide dust, were blocking the detection. This could be the first detection of clouds of a Neptunian. An alternate theory is that the atmosphere is filled with heavy compounds, such as water, carbond dioxide, which would compress the atmosphere and make it difficult to detect. After detection of a huge comet-like tail of Hydrogen trailing and wrapping around its orbit led to the most recent theory that it lost its Hydrogen to uv radiation and was left with a Helium dominated atmosphere with plenty of CO instead of CH4. It's significant eccentricity suggests a possible neighboring planet. Planet c was announced to be the smallest known exoplanet (1.5 Earth's diameter), but was later retracted because variations in transit timing of the first planet did not occur and the proposed orbit would be unstable. It is still thought that a second planet of some kind is possible in the system. Candidate UCF-1.01 was detected by a student in the UCF's astronomy department using the Spitzer Space Telescope. It is about 2/3 Earth's diameter (smaller than all but one confirmed exoplanet), orbits around its star in 1.5 days, and at 1000F may be a lava world without an atmosphere. UCF-1.02 also may exist. Both are thought to be about 1/3 as massive as the Earth, but are too small to get their mass measured and thus too small to be confirmed with present technology.
  • HAT-P-11 System (Jan 09) - Star system 120 ly away in Cygnus with the second discovered transiting Super-Neptune and the least massive transiting planet known at the time. Also observed by Kepler and dubbed "Kepler 3b". Orbit unusually eccentric for a Hot Neptune (5 day period) and is inclined 103deg to its orange dwarf star's rotation. Natural radio waves may have been detected coming from the planet. Radial drifts may point to another planet. It was the first smaller planet found to have clear skies (the four previous planets studied were cloudy), which allowed its atmospheric composition to be studied, which was composed primarily of hydrogen and helium with some water (which would be over 1000F).

Eccentric Jupiters[]

  • HD 80606 System (2009) - Multiple star system (also known as Struve 1341) with a planet, which had a higher period (111 days) than any other known transiting planet and highest eccentricty (Halley's comet-like, epistellar distances to almost Earth-like distance) prior to the release of Kepler data. It is the nearest transiting Super Jupiter (4 MJ, radius slightly less than 1 RJ, 190ly). Its length of day is 36 hours. Discovered in 2001, but found to transit in 2009. Planet is the first one for which changes in weather have been observed. Potassium was detected from the high wind regions of the exosphere. In 2010 it was found to be only one of the two out of all 79 known transiting exoplanetary systems that could not support a habitable Earth-like planet, since its elongated orbit would destabilize any such planets. Planet thought to be in the process of becoming a Hot Jupiter. Observations suggested that energy transferred during closest approach to star would take 10 Billion Years to cause the orbit to circularize, meaning this tidal migration method may not be the preferred one to form hot jupiters.
  • CoRoT-10 System (Jun 10) - One of seven transiting exoplanet systems discovered by CoRoT announced in Jun 2010. Has an extremely eccentric orbit that causes a tenfold difference in stellar radiation (250 to 600 C) over its 13 day period.

Neptunians[]

  • CoRoT-8 System (Jun 10) - One of seven transiting exoplanet systems discovered by CoRoT announced in Jun 2010. Contains the smallest of the bunch, which is 70% as large and massive as Saturn, and second smallest found by CoRoT at the time. Should have an internal structure similar to Neptune.
  • Gliese 436 System - AC+27°28217 is best known as Gliese 436. The second known red dwarf planetary system. Contains one of the first Neptunians discovered and a few potential planets. The star is about half the sun's mass. It is over 11 Billion years old and may be a part of the old disk of the Milky Way. Planet b temporarily later found to be the smallest exoplanet (about Uranus' diameter, though over 50% its mass) known to transit its host star and is currently the nearest (33 ly). Its temperature (712K) was measured to be higher than what it would be purely from radiation (520K), perhaps due to a greenhouse effect, somewhat higher than Venus. It was originally thought to have a layer of "hot ice", water solidified due to high pressures. It turned out that it was larger than thought and hot ice was not needed. It could still be a rocky super-Earth. It was later found to have a remarkably low levels of Methane and high levels of Carbon Monoxide for its 800K temperature. Possible explanations include Methane being changed into hydrocarbon polymers due to its star's ultraviolet radiation, CO being drafted upwards with winds, or observational defects. Later, due to lack of detection of chemical signatures through the backlit atmosphere, it was concluded that high altitude clouds, perhaps made of potassium chloride or zink sulphide dust, were blocking the detection. This could be the first detection of clouds of a Neptunian. An alternate theory is that the atmosphere is filled with heavy compounds, such as water, carbond dioxide, which would compress the atmosphere and make it difficult to detect. After detection of a huge comet-like tail of Hydrogen trailing and wrapping around its orbit led to the most recent theory that it lost its Hydrogen to uv radiation and was left with a Helium dominated atmosphere with plenty of CO instead of CH4. It's significant eccentricity suggests a possible neighboring planet. Planet c was announced to be the smallest known exoplanet (1.5 Earth's diameter), but was later retracted because variations in transit timing of the first planet did not occur and the proposed orbit would be unstable. It is still thought that a second planet of some kind is possible in the system. Candidate UCF-1.01 was detected by a student in the UCF's astronomy department using the Spitzer Space Telescope. It is about 2/3 Earth's diameter (smaller than all but one confirmed exoplanet), orbits around its star in 1.5 days, and at 1000F may be a lava world without an atmosphere. UCF-1.02 also may exist. Both are thought to be about 1/3 as massive as the Earth, but are too small to get their mass measured and thus too small to be confirmed with present technology.
  • Kepler 4 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). This system has the lowest assigned Kepler number, as Kepler 1-3 had been discovered by earlier studies. The only Hot Neptunian in the initial batch and about 3.8 RE.
  • HAT-P-11 System - Star system 120 ly away in Cygnus with the second discovered transiting Super-Neptune and the least massive transiting planet known at the time. Also observed by Kepler and dubbed "Kepler 3b". Orbit unusually eccentric for a Hot Neptune (5 day period) and is inclined 103deg to its orange dwarf star's rotation. Natural radio waves may have been detected coming from the planet. Radial drifts may point to another planet. It was the first smaller planet found to have clear skies (the four previous planets studied were cloudy), which allowed its atmospheric composition to be studied, which was composed primarily of hydrogen and helium with some water (which would be over 1000F).
  • HAT-P-26 System - Template:HAT-P-26 System

Super Earths[]

  • GJ 1214 System - A red dwarf system containing the first exoplanet discovered by the MEarth project, which seeks to detect transiting Earth-like planets around nearby red dwarves, and the second transiting super-Earth. The planet is the first of a new class of planets with low mass and low density. Atmospheric observations suggest it is not a terrestrial with an outgassed (mostly Hydrogen/Helium) atmosphere, nor a Neptune-like world (Hydrogen/Methane mix). Instead it would be a new class of water worlds, with a bulk of its mass made of water. The temperature is too hot for liquid water and not thought to have a solid surface, so it could be covered with hot ice (plasma water). Its featureless spectrum (the first Super Earth atmosphere ever studied) prompted further investigation by Hubble. No chemical fingerprints were detected in its atmosphere despite high sensitivity, leading to conclusive evidence that high altitude clouds were preventing any detection (ruling out the possibility that heavier elements in the atmosphere were compressing the atmosphere, making it hard to detect, which may be the case for other planets with no detected chemicals). These are the first clouds proven around a super-Earth. It may be the coolest transiting planet detected. Its close proximity (under 50 ly) assures promising future observation.
  • CoRoT-7 System - A sunlike star about 500 light years away with two Hot Super Earths (and possibly a third), including the first detected transiting Super-Earth. It a diameter about twice that of the Earth. First exoplanet with evidence of a solid surface and does not possess a thick atmosphere. Because its star is active, its mass is somewhat uncertain (2.3 to 8.5 ME), which makes it unclear if the planet actually has a solid surface. Also the closest exoplanet to its star known and has the smallest orbit period (0.85 Earth Days). Likely the first Super-Io discovered (due to slight eccentricity) and the first gas giant remnant core found. Has temperature of 1000-1500C. Planet c is a larger Neptunian orbiting further away and does not transit.

Special Observation Types[]

Atmospheric Blow-Off[]

  • OGLE-TR-10 System (Theoretical) - Contains a bloated Hot Jupiter expected to be losing its atmosphere. Noted for its similarity to the first transiting exoplanet. Thought to not be so bloated, but then confirmed to really be bloated. Found to have the lowest measured surface gravity of any of the transiting exoplanets, considerably less than Earth. 5th confirmed OGLE planet. The first star observed to experience a stellar flare during the transit of one of its planets. The star is suggested to be active and have a high x-ray luminosity.
  • WASP-1 System - Has the first planet detected by the WASP program, which is the third "inflated" Hot Jupiter detected, which suggested these planets were fairly common. It was nicknamed "Garafía-1" after the municipality that hosts the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory. Was the largest known exoplanet for about a year. Shows signs of atmospheric blow-off.
  • WASP-2 System - Contains second planet discovered by WASP program. This planet is a rather heavy transiting planet, has a large rocky core, and conforms to present models (in contrast to WASP-1). One of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. Shows signs of atmospheric blow-off.
  • WASP-3 System - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating. Like the other two, WASP-4 and 5, it is incapable of radiating away heat from its star and instead swells up to significantly larger than Jupiter. This is a planet 81% more massive than Jupiter with 13% larger radius going around in just less day 2 days. Its transit time varies by up to 3 minutes, which indicates that a further planet may be in this system. This would be a further Neptunian planet and would be the first exoplanet detected by measuring eclipse timing deviations of an earlier discovered planet (Transit Timing Variation method). Further observations are needed to confirm the planet, but the best fit is that it is in 2:1 resonance with the larger planet. Planet b found to be in a low inclination prograde orbit with respect to its star's equator.
  • WASP-4 System - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting very hot jupiter so close to its star that it is evaporating.
  • WASP-5 System - One of three systems discovered by Super WASP containing a transiting planet so close to its star that it is evaporating. A dense very hot jupiter, the densest known Jupiter mass planet at the time of its discovery (Mass is 63% more than Jupiter, Radius is 17% more). Found to orbit in the same manner as its star's rotation, while 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team were found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. Has a candidate planet detected by the Transit Timing Variation method.

Retrograde Hot Jupiters[]

  • WASP-2 System - Contains second planet discovered by WASP program. This planet is a rather heavy transiting planet, has a large rocky core, and conforms to present models (in contrast to WASP-1). One of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. Shows signs of atmospheric blow-off.
  • WASP-8 System - One of the 6 out of 27 planets analysed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. In a binary star system.
  • WASP-15 System - One of the 6 out of 27 planets analysed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. Contains one of the least dense known exoplanets.
  • WASP-17 System - An F6 type star which has the first exoplanet discovered in a retrograde orbit. Also the largest known exoplanet at 1.74 RJ and 0.5 JM. Discovered by transit. It may be "flipping" its star's axis. Orbit hints at a near planetary collision in its early years. One of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. It was found to be abundant in CO, depleted in water and methane. It lacks a prominent stratosphere and has efficient day-night energy circulation. Had one of the strongest water detection of the 5 exoplanets contrasted by Hubble in 2013, though still less intense than expected, probably due to dust clouds or a haze blocking its detection.
  • WASP-33 System - Aka HD 15082, this is the only known Delta Scuti variable star (kA5 hA8 mF4) known to host a planet. The star is much hotter than the Sun and 50% more massive. The planet is a retrograde inflated hot super Jupiter and is by far hottest measured exoplanet (3150C), 900C hotter than WASP-12b, and hotter than some red dwarf stars. It is one of the 6 out of 27 planets analyzed by the WASP team found to orbit backwards around its star in 2010. The planet may be responsible for the star's pulsations.

See Also[]

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