HD 100546 b: 6.9 Times Jupiter
Gas giant around HD 100546
It is 6.90 times Jupiter's radius, closest in size to Jupiter, and 2701.5 times Earth's mass. The host star HD 100546 runs at 10500 K with 2.40 times the Sun's mass.
Radius
77.34 Earth radii
Mass
2701.5 Earth masses
Orbit radius
53.0000 AU
Host star
HD 100546 at 10500 K
Distance
358 light-years
6.9xJupiter: among the largest planets measured
What the archive holds on this planet
A size. Yes.
A measured mass. Yes.
A density, which decides rock or gas. No.
How far out it orbits. Yes.
A measured temperature rather than a derived one. No.
An eccentricity, so we know if the orbit is a circle. No.
What seeing it actually provides
A position, a brightness, and light that can be split into a spectrum.
Found by Paranal Observatory in 2014.
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?
