CoRoT-16b
 CoRoT-16 compared to Jupiter
| |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Ollivier et al. |
| Discovery site | CoRoT space telescope |
| Discovery date | 10 June 2011 |
| Transit | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Apastron | 0.0847 AU (12,670,000 km) |
| Periastron | 0.0389 AU (5,820,000 km) |
| 0.0618 ± 0.0015 AU (9,250,000 ± 220,000 km) | |
| Eccentricity |
0.37+0.11 −0.12 |
| 5.35227±0.00020 d | |
| Inclination |
85.01°+0.94° −1.20° |
| 2,454,923.9145±0.0022 JD | |
|
161°+33° −29° |
|
| Semi-amplitude |
62.6+11.0 −9.9 km/s |
| Star | CoRoT-16 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius |
1.17+0.14 −0.16 RJ |
| Mass |
0.529+0.098 −0.096 MJ |
Mean density
|
0.41+0.22 −0.14 g/cm3 |
| Temperature | 1,086 K (813 °C; 1,495 °F) |
|
| |
CoRoT-16b is a transiting exoplanet orbiting the G or K type main sequence star CoRoT-16 2,433 light years away in the southern constellation Scutum. The planet was discovered in June 2011 by the French-led CoRoT mission.
Discovery
CoRoT-16b was detected using the transit method, which measures the brightness changes during an eclipse. However, this planet has an eccentric orbit, which is unusual due to CoRoT-16b's proximity to its parent star and the age.
Properties
Due to its orbit, CoRoT-16b is classified as a "hot Jupiter". It only takes about 5 days to orbit CoRoT-16, but has an unusually eccentric orbit. CoRoT-16b has 52.9% the mass of Jupiter, but is 17% larger than the latter. Due to the low mass and high radius, CoRoT-16b has 41% the density of water; the orbit gives it an equilibrium temperature of 1,086 K. However, this is only an estimate due to the eccentricity of CoRoT-16b.