CoRoT-8b is a transiting exoplanet orbiting the K-type main sequence star CoRoT-8 1,050 light years away in the equatorial constellation Aquila. The planet was discovered in April 2010 by the CoRoT telescope.

COROT-8b

CoRoT-8b compared to Jupiter and Neptune.
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Borde et al.
Discovery site	CoRoT space telescope
Discovery date	12 April 2010
Detection method	Transit
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	0.0636 ± 0.0014 AU (9,510,000 ± 210,000 km)[2]
Eccentricity	<0.19[3]
Orbital period (sidereal)	6.212445±0.000007 d[2]
Inclination	88.18°±0.08°[2]
Time of periastron	2,454,239.03317±0.00049 JD[2]
Semi-amplitude	27.6+5.8 −4.7 m/s[3]
Star	COROT-8 [ru]
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	0.619+0.016 −0.017 RJ[2]
Mass	0.218±0.034 MJ[2]
Mean density	1.1±0.2 g/cm3[2]
Temperature	870 ± 14 K (1,106.3 ± 25.2 °F; 596.9 ± 14.0 °C)[2]

Discovery

This planet was discovered using the transit method, which detects planet via eclipses. The discovery paper's abstract states that CoRoT-8b is extremely dense compared to Saturn.

Properties

CoRoT-8b has 21.8% Jupiter's mass, and due to its close orbit, a radius 61.9% that of Jupiter. This classifies the planet as a hot Saturn. Despite the bloated radius, the planet is extremely dense, with it being 1.1 times greater than water's;CoRoT-8b has a temperature of 870 K from its 6-day orbit.

References