Giant Find

Researchers from the Keele University, UK have discovered five new planets in the southern sky with similar characteristics to our solar system’s biggest planet – Jupiter. These planets orbit very close to their host stars.

The discovery was facilitated with the help of an instrument called Wide Angle Search for Planets-South (WASP–South), an array of eight cameras that observe the selected regions in the southern sky to study the five stars with planet–like transits in their light curve. The new planets are designated as WASP–119b, WASP–124b, WASP–126b, WASP–129b and WASP–133b.

The orbital periods of these planets vary from 2.17 to 5.75 days, their masses range from 0.3 to 1.2 times the mass of Jupiter, with radii between 1 to 1.5 times the radius of Jupiter. WASP-119b’s host star has a similar mass to that of the sun and appears older based on its effective temperature and density. WASP–126b has the lowest mass but orbits the brightest star of the five. WASP–133b has the shortest orbital period.