TrES-4b
Hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star
title: "TrES-4b" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hercules-(constellation)", "hot-jupiters", "transiting-exoplanets", "exoplanets-discovered-in-2006", "giant-planets"] description: "Hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star" topic_path: "general/hercules-constellation" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrES-4b" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox planet"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | TrES-4b |
| image | TrES-4.jpg |
| caption | Size comparison of TrES-4 with Jupiter |
| discoverer | |
| discovered | 2006–2007 |
| discovery_method | Transit |
| apsis | |
| semimajor | 0.05091 ± |
| eccentricity | 0 |
| period | 3.553945 ± 0.000075 d |
| inclination | 82.86 ± 0.33 |
| semi-amplitude | 86.1 |
| star | GSC 02620-00648 A |
| mean_radius | |
| mass | |
| surface_grav | 7.04 ± |
| 0.718 ± 0.114 g | |
| density | |
| single_temperature | (1782 K, equilibrium) |
| :: |
| name = TrES-4b | image = TrES-4.jpg | caption = Size comparison of TrES-4 with Jupiter | discoverer = Mandushev et al | discovered = 2006–2007 | discovery_method = Transit | apsis = astron | semimajor = 0.05091 ± | eccentricity = 0 | period = 3.553945 ± 0.000075 d | inclination = 82.86 ± 0.33 | semi-amplitude = 86.1 | star = GSC 02620-00648 A | mean_radius = | mass = | surface_grav = 7.04 ± 0.718 ± 0.114 g | density = | single_temperature = (1782 K, equilibrium) TrES-4b is an exoplanet. It was discovered in 2006, and announced in 2007, by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey, using the transit method. At the time of its discovery TrES-4 was the largest confirmed exoplanet ever found; now more than 10 larger planets have been discovered. It is approximately 1400 ly away orbiting the star GSC 02620-00648, in the constellation Hercules.
Orbit
TrES-4 orbits its primary star every 3.543 days and eclipses it when viewed from Earth.
A 2008 study concluded that the GSC 02620-00648 system (among others) is a binary star system allowing even more accurate determination of stellar and planetary parameters.{{cite journal| url=http://www.mpia.de/homes/henning/Publications/daemgen.pdf| title=Binarity of transit host stars - Implications for planetary parameters| date=2009| volume=498 | pages=567–574| last1=Daemgen| first1=S.| journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics| doi=10.1051/0004-6361/200810988| last2=Hormuth | first2=F.| last3=Brandner| first3=W.| last4=Bergfors| first4=C.| last5=Janson| first5=M.| last6=Hippler| first6=S.| last7=Henning| first7=T.| issue=2| bibcode=2009A&A...498..567D|arxiv = 0902.2179 | s2cid=9893376}}
The study in 2012, utilizing a Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, have determined the planetary orbit is probably aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, misalignment equal to °.
Physical characteristics
The planet is slightly less massive than Jupiter (0.919 ± 0.073 ) but its diameter is 84% larger. This give TrES-4 an average density of only about a third of a gram per cubic centimetre, approximately the same as Saturn's moon Methone. At the time of its discovery in 2007, TrES-4 was described as both the largest known planet and the planet with the lowest known density.
TrES-4b's orbital radius is 0.05091 AU, giving it a predicted surface temperature of about 1782 K. This by itself is not enough to explain the planet's low density, however. It is not currently known why TrES-4b is so large. The probable causes are the proximity to a parent star that is three to four times more luminous than the Sun as well as the internal heat within the planet.
References
References
- (2018-11-01). "Revised Exoplanet Radii and Habitability Using Gaia Data Release 2". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.
- (2015). "The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG VI. The curious case of TrES-4b". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
- Mandushev, Georgi. (2007). "TrES-4: A Transiting Hot Jupiter of Very Low Density". The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
- (2012). "Obliquities of Hot Jupiter Host Stars: Evidence for Tidal Interactions and Primordial Misalignments". The Astrophysical Journal.
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