Artist’s impression of CHEOPS in front of the exoplanet WASP-189b, as if the space telescope were between the day side of the planet and its blue star. In reality, CHEOPS observes exoplanets from Earth orbit. © Frederik Peeters / David Ehrenreich

WASP-189b: An ‘Extreme’ Exoplanet Observed by CHEOPS

WASP-189b is one of the most ‘extreme’ planets ever discovered and its star holds some surprises too.

The European Space Agency (ESA) satellite CHEOPS is living up to its potential. The first study developed with data provided by the exoplanet hunter — launched at the end of last year — reveals its observation of one of the most remarkable exoplanets ever discovered — WASP-189b.

The planet in question — WASP-189b — is a gas giant located over 322 light-years from Earth which orbits extremely close to its host star. The planet which takes just 3 days to orbit its parent star, is 1.6 times the size of the solar system’s largest planet — Jupiter — and is exposed to scorching temperatures leading researchers to label it an ‘extreme’ exoplanet.’

Infographic of the WASP-189b and its system (ESA)

The paper — accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics — comes just 8 months after the launch of CHEOPS and demonstrates the promise of the mission — the first of its kind — with the detailed study of WASP-189b showing that CHEOPS is up to the task of characterizing exoplanets for further investigation.