Wasp-17b: An Ultra-Low Density Planet in a Probable Retrograde Orbit

in Astrophysical Journal (2010), 709

We report the discovery of the transiting giant planet WASP-17b, the least-dense planet currently known. It is 1.6 Saturn masses, but 1.5-2 Jupiter radii, giving a density of 6%-14% that of Jupiter. WASP ... [more ▼]

We report the discovery of the transiting giant planet WASP-17b, the least-dense planet currently known. It is 1.6 Saturn masses, but 1.5-2 Jupiter radii, giving a density of 6%-14% that of Jupiter. WASP-17b is in a 3.7 day orbit around a sub-solar metallicity, V = 11.6, F6 star. Preliminary detection of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect suggests that WASP-17b is in a retrograde orbit (λ â â 150°), indicative of a violent history involving planet-planet or star-planet scattering. WASP-17b's bloated radius could be due to tidal heating resulting from recent or ongoing tidal circularization of an eccentric orbit, such as the highly eccentric orbits that typically result from scattering interactions. It will thus be important to determine more precisely the current orbital eccentricity by further high-precision radial velocity measurements or by timing the secondary eclipse, both to reduce the uncertainty on the planet's radius and to test tidal-heating models. Owing to its low surface gravity, WASP-17b's atmosphere has the largest scale height of any known planet, making it a good target for transmission spectroscopy. Based in part on data collected with the HARPS spectrograph at ESO La Silla Observatory under programme ID 081.C-0388(A). [less ▲]

WASP-5b: a dense, very hot Jupiter transiting a 12th-mag Southern-hemisphere star

in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2008), 387

We report the discovery of WASP-5b, a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting a 12th-mag G-type star in the Southern hemisphere. The 1.6-d orbital period places WASP-5b in the class of very hot Jupiters and leads to ... [more ▼]

We report the discovery of WASP-5b, a Jupiter-mass planet orbiting a 12th-mag G-type star in the Southern hemisphere. The 1.6-d orbital period places WASP-5b in the class of very hot Jupiters and leads to a predicted equilibrium temperature of 1750K. WASP-5b is the densest of any known Jovian-mass planet, being a factor of 7 denser than TrES-4, which is subject to similar stellar insolation, and a factor of 3 denser than WASP-4b, which has a similar orbital period. We present transit photometry and radial velocity measurements of WASP-5 (= USNO-B10487-0799749), from which we derive the mass, radius and density of the planet: M[SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.58[SUP]+0.13[/SUP][SUB]-0.08[/SUB]M[SUB]J[/SUB],R[SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.090[SUP]+0.094[/SUP][SUB]-0.058[/SUB]R[SUB]J[/SUB] and rho[SUB]P[/SUB] = 1.22[SUP]+0.19[/SUP][SUB]-0.24[/SUB]rho[SUB]J[/SUB]. The orbital period is P = 1.6284296[SUP]+0.0000048[/SUP][SUB]-0.0000037[/SUB]d and the mid-transit epoch is T[SUB]C[/SUB](HJD) = 2454375.62466[SUP]+0.00026[/SUP][SUB]-0.00025[/SUB]. [less ▲]