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Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (MIRI Phase Curve)

Graphic titled Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b: Phase Curve 1 ¼ Orbits; MIRI Low-Resolution Spectroscopy showing a graph of brightness over time with a hazy blue planet in the background.

This light curve shows the change in brightness of the WASP-43 system over time as the planet orbits the star. This type of light curve is known as a phase curve because it includes the entire orbit, or all phases of the planet.

Because it is tidally locked, different sides of WASP-43 b rotate into view as it orbits. The system appears brightest when the hot dayside is facing the telescope, just before and after the secondary eclipse when the planet passes behind the star. The system grows dimmer as the planet continues its orbits and the nightside rotates into view. After the transit when the planet passes in front of the star, blocking some of the starlight, the system brightens again as the dayside rotates back into view.

This graph shows more than 8,000 measurements of 5- to 12-micron mid-infrared light captured over a single 24-hour observation using the low-resolution spectroscopy mode on Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument). By subtracting the amount of light contributed by the star, astronomers can calculate the amount coming from the visible side of the planet as it orbits. Webb was able to detect differences in brightness as small as 0.004% (40 parts per million).

Since the amount of mid-infrared light given off by an object is directly related to its temperature, astronomers were able to use these measurements to calculate the average temperature of different sides of the planet.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    10:19:37.96
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -09:48:23.20
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sextans
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    280 light-years (87 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    MIRI
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    November 30 – December 2, 2022
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    WASP-43 b
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Hot Jupiter Exoplanet
  • Release Date
    April 30, 2024
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Maps Weather on Planet 280 Light-Years Away
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI); Science: Taylor Bell (BAERI), Joanna Barstow (The Open University), Michael Roman (University of Leicester)

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Related Images & Videos

Illustration showing a hazy blue planet against the black background of space.

Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (Artist's Concept)

This artist’s concept shows what the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b could look like. WASP-43 b is a Jupiter-sized planet circling a star roughly 280 light-years away, in the constellation Sextans. The planet orbits at a distance of about 1.3 million miles (0.014 astronomical...

Graphic titled “Hot Gas-giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b: Temperature Maps; MIRI Low-Resolution Spectroscopy” showing telescope-facing hemisphere of planet at 4 orbital positions.

Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (Temperature Maps)

This set of maps shows the temperature of the visible side of the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b, as the planet orbits its star. The temperatures were calculated based on more than 8,000 brightness measurements of 5- to 12-micron mid-infrared light detected from the...

Purple to yellow temperature map of one hemisphere of a planet with black latitude/longitude lines and a temperature scale bar in degrees Celsius. Temperature scale bar grades from purple at the left to yellow at the right. It ranges from around 500°C in purple to 1,500°C in yellow, marked in even increments of 200 Celsius degrees starting at 600 and ending at 1,400. Hemisphere shown grades from purple (around 500°C) on the left edge, to pink (about 1,000°C) in the middle, to yellow (1,500°C) on the right edge. Temperature difference between left and right side is most extreme along the equator, decreasing toward the poles.

Hot Gas-Giant Exoplanet WASP-43 b (Rotating Global Temperature Map)

Global temperature map of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-43 b. This map was made based on the brightness of 5- to 12-micron mid-infrared light detected from the planet by MIRI (the Mid-Infrared Instrument) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. In general, the hotter an object...

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Illustration Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Science Credit

Taylor Bell (BAERI), Joanna Barstow (The Open University), Michael Roman (University of Leicester)

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