WASP-4b

WASP-4b is an exoplanet, specifically a hot Jupiter, approximately 891 light-years away^[5] in the constellation of Phoenix.^[6]

WASP-4b

Size comparison of WASP-4b with Jupiter.
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Wide Angle Search for Planets
Discovery site	South African Astronomical Observatory
Discovery date	October 31, 2007
Detection method	Transit photometry
Orbital characteristics[2]
Semi-major axis	0.02239±0.00084 AU
Eccentricity	<0.0033[3]
Orbital period (sidereal)	1.338231587(22) d
Inclination	88.02°±0.69°
Semi-amplitude	232.7+2.5 −2.2 m/s[3]
Star	WASP-4
Physical characteristics[2]
Mean radius	1.312±0.045 RJ
Mass	1.164±0.082 MJ
Mean density	0.639±0.079 g/cm3
Temperature	1957±68 K (1,684 °C; 3,063 °F)[4]

Discovery

The planet was the discovered by the Wide Angle Search for Planets team using images taken with the SuperWASP-South project's eight wide-angle cameras located at the South African Astronomical Observatory.^[7][8][1] Analysis of over 4000 images taken between May and November 2006 resulted in the detection of a transit occurring every 1.3 days. Follow-up radial velocity observations using the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope confirmed that the transiting object was a planet.^[1]

The radial velocity trend of WASP-4, caused by the presence of WASP-4 b.

Characteristics

The planetary equilibrium temperature would be 1650±30 K,^[9] but the measured dayside temperature is higher, with a 2015 study finding 1900±100 K^[10] and a 2020 study finding 1957±68 K.^[4]

A study in 2012, utilizing the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, determined the planetary orbit is probably aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, with misalignment equal to -1⁺¹⁴
₋₁₂°.^[11]

The planet's orbital period appears to be decreasing at a rate of 7.33±0.71 milliseconds per year, suggesting that its orbit is decaying, with a decay timescale of 15.77±1.57 million years. The anomalously high rate of orbital decay of WASP-4b is poorly understood as of 2021.^[2]