WASP-10b
Encyclopedia
WASP-10b is an extrasolar planet
discovered in 2008 by SuperWASP
using the transit method
. Follow-up radial velocity observations showed that it is three times more massive than Jupiter
, while the transit observations showed that its radius is 8% bigger than Jupiter, quite small for a Hot Jupiter but this is due to its high mass. This makes the density of this planet similar to our Moon
. Its takes 3 days to orbit
around the star, in contrast to 365 days for the Earth
to go around the Sun
.
It is the only confirmed extrasolar planet in WASP-10's planetary system, since the only other detected planet in WASP-10's planetary system, WASP-10c, is still unconfirmed.
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
discovered in 2008 by SuperWASP
SuperWASP
SuperWASP is an international academic organisation performing an ultra-wide angle search for transiting extrasolar planets with the aim of covering the entire sky down to ~15th magnitude.-Equipment:...
using the transit method
Methods of detecting extrasolar planets
Any planet is an extremely faint light source compared to its parent star. In addition to the intrinsic difficulty of detecting such a faint light source, the light from the parent star causes a glare that washes it out...
. Follow-up radial velocity observations showed that it is three times more massive than Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, while the transit observations showed that its radius is 8% bigger than Jupiter, quite small for a Hot Jupiter but this is due to its high mass. This makes the density of this planet similar to our Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. Its takes 3 days to orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
around the star, in contrast to 365 days for the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
to go around the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
.
It is the only confirmed extrasolar planet in WASP-10's planetary system, since the only other detected planet in WASP-10's planetary system, WASP-10c, is still unconfirmed.