Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

WASP-79b

WASP-79b, also known as Pollera, is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star WASP-79 (Montuno). This planet is in the constellation Eridanus, and is about 780 light-years from Earth.

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Jul 1, 2026
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WASP-79b / Pollera
Artist impression of WASP-79b
Discovery
Discovered bySmalley et al.1
Discovery dateJune 1 20121
Transit method1
Orbital characteristics2
0.05014+0.00034
−0.00035 AU
Eccentricity01
3.66239094(60) days
Inclination85.52°±0.1°
StarWASP-79
Physical characteristics
1.756±0.031 RJ3
Mass0.835±0.077 MJ2
Temperature1,747±27 K 2

WASP-79b, also known as Pollera, is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star WASP-79 (Montuno). This planet is in the constellation Eridanus, and is about 780 light-years from Earth.

The name, Pollera, was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign by Panama, during the 100th anniversary of the IAU. A pollera is the traditional costume the woman wears in the "El Punto", a Panamanian dance.45

Host star

WASP-79, or CD-30 1812, is a F-type dwarf star located at 240 parsecs (780 light-years) away from Earth. With 1.26 M☉ and 1.73 R☉, it is both larger and more massive than the Sun. Its effective temperature is 6,365 K, making it hotter than the Sun.3

The star WASP-79 is named Montuno. Montuno is the traditional costume the man wears in the "El Punto", a Panamanian dance.4

Characteristics

WASP-79b is a very large hot Jupiter that is among the largest exoplanets discovered although its size is uncertain. The discovery paper estimated it to be 2.09 ± 0.14 RJ (approximately 300,000 kilometers across) with a temperature of 1,900 ± 50 K,1 but modern studies give a lower radius of 1.756±0.031 RJ3 and a temperature of 1,747±27 K.2

The planet is orbiting the host star at nearly polar orbit with respect to star's equatorial plane, inclination being equal to −95.2+0.9
−1.0°.6

In 2019 and 2020, the transmission spectra of WASP-79b were taken utilizing HST and Spitzer Space Telescope, with best fit being the hazy atmosphere containing about 1% water7 and traces of iron(I) hydride.89 The presence of iron hydride was confirmed in 2021, along with tentative detection of vanadium oxide.10 Also, in 2022 an atmospheric sodium has been detected.11

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Smalley, B; Anderson, D. R; Collier-Cameron, A; Doyle, A. P; Fumel, A; Gillon, M; Hellier, C; Jehin, E; Lendl, M; Maxted, P. F. L; Pepe, F; Pollacco, D; Queloz, D; Ségransan, D; Smith, A. M. S; Southworth, J; Triaud, A. H. M. J; Udry, S; West, R. G (2012). "WASP-78b and WASP-79b: Two highly-bloated hot Jupiter-mass exoplanets orbiting F-type stars in Eridanus". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 547: A61. arXiv:1206.1177. Bibcode:2012A&A...547A..61S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219731. S2CID 119233646.
  2. Saha, Suman (2024-09-01). "Precise Transit Photometry Using TESS. II. Revisiting 28 Additional Transiting Systems with Updated Physical Properties". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 274 (1): 13. arXiv:2407.20846. Bibcode:2024ApJS..274...13S. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ad6a60. ISSN 0067-0049.
  3. de Laverny, Patrick; Ligi, Roxanne; Crida, Aurélien; Recio-Blanco, Alejandra; Palicio, Pedro A. (July 2025). "The Gaia spectroscopic catalogue of exoplanets and host stars". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 699: A100. arXiv:2505.22205. Bibcode:2025A&A...699A.100D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202554739. ISSN 0004-6361.
  4. "Approved names". NameExoworlds. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. "International Astronomical Union | IAU". iau.org. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  6. Brown, D. J. A.; Triaud, A. H. M. J.; Doyle, A. P.; Gillon, M.; Lendl, M.; Anderson, D. R.; Collier Cameron, A.; Hébrard, G.; Hellier, C.; Lovis, C.; Maxted, P. F. L.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Smalley, B. (2016), "Rossiter–Mc Laughlin models and their effect on estimates of stellar rotation, illustrated using six WASP systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 464: 810–839, arXiv:1610.00600, doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2316
  7. Rathcke, Alexander D.; MacDonald, Ryan J.; Barstow, Joanna K.; Goyal, Jayesh M.; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; Mendonça, João M.; Sanz-Forcada, Jorge; Henry, Gregory W.; Sing, David K.; Alam, Munazza K.; Lewis, Nikole K.; Chubb, Katy L.; Taylor, Jake; Nikolov, Nikolay; Buchhave, Lars A. (2021), "HST PanCET Program: A Complete Near-UV to Infrared Transmission Spectrum for the Hot Jupiter WASP-79b", The Astronomical Journal, 162 (4): 138, arXiv:2104.10688, Bibcode:2021AJ....162..138R, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac0e99, S2CID 233347193
  8. Smalley, B.; Anderson, D. R.; Collier-Cameron, A.; Doyle, A. P.; Fumel, A.; Gillon, M.; Hellier, C.; Jehin, E.; Lendl, M.; Maxted, P. F. L.; Pepe, F.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Segransan, D.; Smith, A. M. S.; Southworth, J.; Triaud, A. H. M. J.; Udry, S.; West, R. G.; Rathcke, Alexander D.; Sanz-Forcada, Jorge (2019). "Transmission Spectroscopy of WASP-79b from 0.6 to 5.0 μm". The Astronomical Journal. 159: 5. arXiv:1911.02051. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab5442. S2CID 207880528.
  9. Skaf, Nour; Michelle Fabienne Bieger; Edwards, Billy; Changeat, Quentin; Morvan, Mario; Kiefer, Flavien; Blain, Doriann; Zingales, Tiziano; Poveda, Mathilde; Al-Refaie, Ahmed; Baeyens, Robin; Gressier, Amelie; Guilluy, Gloria; Adam Yassin Jaziri; Modirrousta-Galian, Darius; Mugnai, Lorenzo V.; Pluriel, William; Whiteford, Niall; Wright, Sam; Kai Hou Yip; Charnay, Benjamin; Leconte, Jeremy; Drossart, Pierre; Tsiaras, Angelos; Venot, Olivia; Waldmann, Ingo; Beaulieu, Jean-Philippe (2020). "ARES. II. Characterizing the Hot Jupiters WASP-127 b, WASP-79 b, and WASP-62b with the Hubble Space Telescope". The Astronomical Journal. 160 (3): 109. arXiv:2005.09615. Bibcode:2020AJ....160..109S. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab94a3. S2CID 218684714.
  10. Foote, Trevor O.; Lewis, Nikole K.; Kilpatrick, Brian M.; Goyal, Jayesh M.; Bruno, Giovanni; Wakeford, Hannah R.; Robbins-Blanch, Nina; Kataria, Tiffany; MacDonald, Ryan J.; López-Morales, Mercedes; Sing, David K.; Mikal-Evans, Thomas; Bourrier, Vincent; Henry, Gregory; Buchhave, Lars A. (2022), "The Emission Spectrum of the Hot Jupiter WASP-79b from HST/WFC3", The Astronomical Journal, 163 (1): 7, arXiv:2107.14334, Bibcode:2022AJ....163....7F, doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac2f4a, S2CID 236635028
  11. Langeveld, Adam B.; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Cabot, Samuel H C. (2022), "A survey of sodium absorption in 10 giant exoplanets with high-resolution transmission spectroscopy", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 514 (4): 5192–5213, arXiv:2205.01623, doi:10.1093/mnras/stac1539