TrES-3b is an

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detect ...

orbiting the star GSC 03089-00929. It has an orbital period of just 31 hours and nearly twice the mass of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. The planet TrES-3b is named Umbäässa. The name was selected in the

NameExoWorlds NameExoWorlds (also known as IAU NameExoWorlds) were various projects managed by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) to encourage names to be submitted for astronomical objects, notably exoplanets. The accepted names would later be cons ...

campaign by

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

, during the 100th anniversary of the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

. In the local dialect of southern Liechtenstein, Umbäässa is a small and barely visible

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

Discovery

It is the third transiting

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

found by the

Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey The Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey, or ''TrES'', used three 4-inch (10 cm) telescopes located at Lowell Observatory, Palomar Observatory, and Teide Observatory to locate exoplanets. It was made using the network of small, relatively inexpens ...

. It was discovered in the constellation

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

about 10 degrees west of

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

, the brightest star in the summer skies. Transits in front of the star GSC 03089-00929 were detected by two 10 cm telescopes operating out of Palomar and Lowell Observatories. Transits of TrES-3 were also independently observed by the

Hungarian Automated Telescope Network The Hungarian Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) project is a network of six small fully automated "HAT" telescopes. The scientific goal of the project is to detect and characterize extrasolar planets using the transit method. This network is use ...

. Seven high-precision

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity of a target with respect to an observer is the rate of change of the vector displacement between the two points. It is formulated as the vector projection of the target-observer relative velocity ...

measurements were made using the HIRES spectrometer at W. M. Keck Observatory, which confirmed the presence of a planetary mass companion with a minimum mass twice that of the planet

Characteristics

The planet's home star is slightly smaller and cooler than the Sun. The orbital period is less than one and a third days, one of the shortest known. Despite close proximity to the star, no evidence of tidal-driven orbital decay was present as in 2020, with best data fit indicating only an apsidal precession of planetary orbit.

References

External links

Massive Transiting Planet With 31-hour Year Found Around Distant Star

Notes for planet TrES-3

Hercules (constellation) Transiting exoplanets Hot Jupiters Exoplanets discovered in 2007 Giant planets Exoplanets with proper names {{Hercules (constellation)

Discovery

Characteristics

See also

References

External links