CT Cha b: 2600 Kelvin
Gas giant around CT Cha
It is 2.20 times Jupiter's radius, closest in size to Jupiter, and 5403.0 times Earth's mass. Its equilibrium temperature is 2600 K, hotter than the surface of many stars.
Radius
24.66 Earth radii
Mass
5403.0 Earth masses
Equilibrium temperature
2600 K (measured)
Orbit radius
440.0000 AU
Distance
622 light-years
2600K: hot enough to vaporise rock on the dayside
Known and unknown, as the archive has it
A radius from transit photometry. Yes.
A mass. Yes.
A density, so rock and gas can be told apart. No.
An orbital distance. Yes.
An observed temperature. Yes.
An eccentricity, so the orbit shape is known. No.
What the picture gives
A position, a brightness, and light that can be split into a spectrum.
Found by Paranal Observatory in 2007.
This is one of the rare planets that has actually been photographed. Fewer than a hundred of the thousands known were found this way, and they are mostly young giants far from their stars.
Fewer than a hundred planets have been photographed rather than inferred. Does \
seeing one directly change how real it feels to you?
