WASP-6b is an

extrasolar planet 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 ...

approximately 600 light years away in the constellation

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

. It was discovered in 2008, by the

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

survey, by

astronomical transit In astronomy, a transit (or astronomical transit) is a phenomenon when a celestial body passes directly between a larger body and the observer. As viewed from a particular vantage point, the transiting body appears to move across the face of t ...

across its parent star WASP-6. This planet orbits only 4% that of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

distance. The planet has mass half that of Jupiter, but its

insolation Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/m ...

has forced a

thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a change in temperature, usually not including phase transitions. Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic ...

of its radius over that of Jupiter. The planet is an inflated

Hot Jupiter Hot Jupiters (sometimes called hot Saturns) are a class of gas giant exoplanets that are inferred to be physically similar to Jupiter but that have very short orbital periods (). The close proximity to their stars and high surface-atmosphere temp ...

Starspot Starspots are stellar phenomena, so-named by analogy with sunspots. Spots as small as sunspots have not been detected on other stars, as they would cause undetectably small fluctuations in brightness. The commonly observed starspots are in gene ...

s on the host star WASP-6 helped to refine the measurements of the mass and the radius of the planet. Clear to cloudy hot Jupiters

Naming

In 2019 the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

announced as part of

NameExoWorlds NameExoWorlds (also known as IAU NameExoWorlds) is the name of various projects managed by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) to encourage names to be submitted for astronomical objects, which would later be considered for official ad ...

that WASP-6 and its planet WASP-6b would be given official names chosen by school children from

The Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. The planet WASP-6b is named Boinayel. Boinayel is a Taino deity of rain, that fertilizes the soil.

Orbit

The study in 2012, utilizing a

Rossiter–McLaughlin effect The Rossiter–McLaughlin effect is a spectroscopic phenomenon observed when an object moves across the face of a star. Description The Rossiter–McLaughlin effect is a spectroscopic phenomenon observed when either an eclipsing binary's second ...

, have determined the planetary orbit is probably aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, misalignment equal to -11°.

Atmosphere

Observations with the Magellan Telescope in 2013 studied the transits in different wavelengths. The study observed a decrease in transit depth as a function of wavelength, characteristic of a scattering

haze Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification ...

. No spectral features were detected. A study in 2015 using

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

and

Spitzer Space Telescope The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003. Operations ended on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, f ...

data also found evidence of a scattering haze, but it found tentative evidence for

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

. A study in 2015, using the Spitzer Space Telescope detected the eclipse of the planet behind the host star. The study found a dayside temperature of K (

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

) and K ( °C) for the 3.6 and 4.5 μm channels respectively. A study from 2019 using data from ground based observatories, such as the

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across, ...

and space telescopes, such as the

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS, Explorer 95 or MIDEX-7) is a space telescope for NASA's Explorer program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the ''Kepler' ...

analysed the atmosphere of WASP-6b. This study confirmed the presence of sodium and potassium in the atmosphere. The study also found

water vapour (99.9839 °C) , - , Boiling point , , - , specific gas constant , 461.5 J/( kg·K) , - , Heat of vaporization , 2.27 MJ/kg , - , Heat capacity , 1.864 kJ/(kg·K) Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous pha ...

in the atmosphere of the planet. The study came to the conclusion that despite the presence of a haze in the atmosphere of WASP-6b, the planet remains a favourable object for future atmospheric characterisation with missions such as JWST.

References

External links

*
WASP primary website
Aquarius (constellation) Exoplanets discovered in 2009 Exoplanets discovered by WASP Giant planets Hot Jupiters Transiting exoplanets Exoplanets with proper names {{extrasolar-planet-stub de:WASP-6 b

Naming

Orbit

Atmosphere

See also

References

External links