Discovery date 1 May 2007 Discovery site France | Discoverer(s) Barge et al. Discovery status Confirmed | |
 | ||
Other detection methods Radial velocity,
Reflection/emission modulations | ||
COROT-1b (previously named COROT-Exo-1b) is an extrasolar planet approximately 1,560 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros. The planet was discovered orbiting the yellow dwarf star COROT-1 in May 2007. The planet was the first discovery by the French-led COROT Mission.
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Detection and discovery
The planet was announced by the COROT mission (a CNES project with European Space Agency participation). The planet is a large hot Jupiter, about 1.49 times the radius of Jupiter and approximately 1.03 times as massive, based on ground observations of the star. Its large size is due to its low density combined with the intense heating of its parent star causing the outer layers of the atmosphere to bloat.
Observation of phases
In May 2009 COROT-1b became the first extrasolar planet for which optical (as opposed to infrared) observations of phases were reported. These observations suggest that there is not significant heat transfer between the (tidally locked) night and day sides of the planet.