WASP-39b: a highly inflated Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late G-type star

Abstract

We present the discovery of WASP-39b, a highly inflated transiting Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late G-type dwarf star with a period of 4.055259 ± 0.000008 d, Transit Epoch T0 = 2 455 342.9688 ± 0.0002 (HJD), of duration 0.1168 ± 0.0008 d. A combined analysis of the WASP photometry, high-precision follow-up transit photometry, and radial velocities yield a planetary mass of Mpl = 0.28 ± 0.03 MJ and a radius of Rpl = 1.27 ± 0.04 RJ, resulting in a mean density of 0.14 ± 0.02 ρJ. The stellar parameters are mass M⋆ = 0.93 ± 0.03 M⊙, radius R⋆ = 0.895 ± 0.23 R⊙, and age Gyr. Only WASP-17b and WASP-31b have lower densities than WASP-39b, although they are slightly more massive and highly irradiated planets. From our spectral analysis, the metallicity of WASP-39 is measured to be [Fe/H] = −0.12 ± 0.1 dex, and we find the planet to have an equilibrium temperature of K. Both values strengthen the observed empirical correlation between these parameters and the planetary radius for the known transiting Saturn-mass planets.