CoRoT-8b is a transiting

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

orbiting the

K-type main sequence star A K-type main-sequence star, also referred to as a K-type dwarf or an orange dwarf, is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence stars ...

CoRoT-8 1,050 light years away in the equatorial

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Aquila. The planet was discovered in April 2010 by the CoRoT telescope.

Discovery

This planet was discovered using the transit method, which detects planet via eclipses. The discovery paper's abstract states that CoRoT-8b is extremely dense compared to

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

Properties

CoRoT-8b has 21.8%

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

's mass, and due to its close orbit, a radius 61.9% that of Jupiter. This classifies the planet as a hot Saturn. Despite the bloated radius, the planet is extremely dense, with it being 1.1 times greater than water's; CoRoT-8b has a temperature of 870 K from its 6-day orbit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CoRoT-8b Hot Jupiters Transiting exoplanets Exoplanets discovered in 2010 8b Aquila (constellation)