astronomy

HIP 65426 b

HIP 65426 b is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand HIP 65426 b rather than just read about it. In short: HIP 65426 b, formally named Najsakopajk, is a super-Jupiter exoplanet orbiting the star HIP 65426. It was discovered on 6 July 2017 by the SPHERE consortium using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument belonging to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), being the first confirmed planet discovered by the SPHERE instrument.

Key takeaways

HIP 65426 b belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect HIP 65426 b to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of HIP 65426 b from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

HIP 65426 b, formally named Najsakopajk, is a super-Jupiter exoplanet orbiting the star HIP 65426. It was discovered on 6 July 2017 by the SPHERE consortium using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument belonging to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), being the first confirmed planet discovered by the SPHERE instrument. It is 385 light-years from Earth in the Centaurus constellation.

Nomenclature HIP 65426 b is a designation inherited from the host star's name, HIP 65426, following the exoplanet naming convention, where exoplanets receive lowercase letters. The designation HIP 65426 has its origin on the Hipparcos catalogue. In August 2022, this planet and its host star were included among 20 systems to be named by the third NameExoWorlds project. The approved names, proposed by a team from Mexico, were announced in June 2023. HIP 65426 b is named Najsakopajk and its host star is named Matza, after Zoque words for "Mother Earth" and "star".

Overview The exoplanet HIP 65426 b orbits its host star HIP 65426, an A-type main-sequence star with apparent magnitude 7.01, with a mass of 1.96±0.04 M☉, a radius of 1.77±0.05 R☉ and an effective temperature of 8,840 K (8,570 °C). This planetary system is located in the constellation Centaurus. The planet is around 14 million years old, much younger than the Solar System which is 4.5 billion years old, but is not associated with a debris disk, despite its young age, causing it to not fit current models for planetary formation. It is around 92 AU from its parent star, with a possible dusty atmosphere. It was discovered as part of the SHINE program, which aimed to find planetary systems around 600 new stars. In September 2022, HIP 65426 b became the first exoplanet directly observed by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Planetary atmosphere The spectrum taken in 2020 has indicated that HIP 65426 b is carbon-poor and oxygen-rich compared to Solar System gas giants. Spectral analysis of data from the James Webb Space Telescope revealed strong evidence of silicate clouds containing enstatite with no evidence of a dusty atmosphere.

James Webb Space Telescope observations In August 2022, a pre-print of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations was published. The JWST direct imaging observations between 2-16 μm of HIP 65426 b tightly constrained its bolometric luminosity to log ⁡ ( L b o l / L s u n ) = − 4.23 ± 0.08 {\displaystyle \log(L_{bol}/L_{sun})=-4.23\pm 0.08} , which provides a robust mass constraint of 7.1±1.2 MJ. Evolutionary models suggest a radius 45% larger than that of Jupiter and an effective temperature of 1,283 K (1,010 °C). Atmospheric models suggest lower radii down to 0.9 RJ and higher temperatures, but these results are unreliable. The team also constrained the semi-major axis and the inclination of the planet, but the new JWST astrometry of the planet did not significantly improve the orbit of the planet, especially the eccentricity remains unconstrained. HIP 65426 b is the first exoplanet to be imaged by JWST and the first to be detected in wavelengths beyond 5 μm. The observations demonstrate that the James Webb Space Telescope will exceed its nominal predicted performance by a factor of 10 and that it will be able to image 0.3 MJ planets at 100 au for main-sequence stars, Neptune and Uranus-mass objects at 100-200 au for M-dwarfs and Saturn-mass objects at 10 au for M-dwarfs. For α Cen A JWST might be able to push the limit to a 5 R🜨 planet at 0.5 to 2.5 au.

See also Lists of exoplanets List of exoplanets discovered in 2017

References

Notes

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with HIP 65426 b

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what HIP 65426 b claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to HIP 65426 b before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about HIP 65426 b ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of HIP 65426 b

In research: HIP 65426 b appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses HIP 65426 b in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: HIP 65426 b is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Centaurus, Exoplanets detected by direct imaging, Exoplanets discovered in 2017, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for HIP 65426 b outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study HIP 65426 b in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what HIP 65426 b means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain HIP 65426 b out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is HIP 65426 b in simple terms?

Why does HIP 65426 b matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study HIP 65426 b?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on HIP 65426 b.