WASP17b

WASP17b is an extrasolar planet located approximately 1,300 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. It was discovered in 2009 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) project, a collaboration between several international observatories. WASP17b is classified as a hot Jupiter, a type of gas giant planet that orbits very close to its host star, completing one orbit in just 3.7 Earth days. The planet has a mass of about 1.2 Jupiter masses and a radius of approximately 1.5 Jupiter radii, resulting in a density similar to that of Saturn. Its proximity to its star leads to extremely high surface temperatures, estimated to be around 1,500 degrees Celsius. WASP17b is notable for its unusually large radius and low density, which are not fully understood by current planetary formation models. The planet's host star, WASP17, is a G-type main-sequence star with a mass and radius similar to that of the Sun. The system is relatively young, with an estimated age of about 2 billion years. WASP17b continues to be a subject of interest for astronomers studying the formation and evolution of exoplanets.