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Entering orbit…
Habitability
0/ 100
Uninhabitable

Reading WASP-126 b’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: H, He, O, C, NThis is what a telescope would measure while WASP-126 b crosses in front of its star: starlight passes through the atmosphere and spreads into a rainbow band. Each dark line marks a wavelength the atmosphere absorbed.Every element absorbs its own signature wavelengths — hydrogen always darkens the same two spots, calcium another pair, and so on. Astronomers match the lines in a real spectrum against a library of these signatures to say what an atmosphere is made of, light-years away, without ever visiting. A deeper line generally means more of that element is present.WASP-126 b sits about 708 light-years away, found by the transit method. Most catalogued distances trace back to parallax: as Earth orbits the Sun, a nearby star appears to shift very slightly against the distant background stars, and the size of that shift gives its distance directly.

WASP-126 b

Gas GiantUninhabitable707 light years awayFound 2016

WASP-126 b, from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (found 2016). Measured: 90.3 Earth masses, 0.0449 AU, a 5800 K G-type star. Composition inferred from a mass of 90.3 Earths, which is giant territory whatever its 0.08x density suggests, with a day locked to its 3.3-day year, as anything orbiting this close would be.

Host star

WASP-126

Type
G-type (Yellow (Sun-like))
Spectral type
G2
Temperature
5,800 K
Radius
1.27 ☉
Mass
1.12 ☉
Known planets
1 (this one)
Luminosity
1.44 ☉

Published by the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This world’s temperature and habitability score are computed from this star’s measured luminosity, not from a stand-in for its class.

Gas Giant

Magnetic FieldExtreme Activity
Why is this a Gas Giant?Your planet has 86.0% hydrogen and helium, combined with a mass of 90.3x Earth, which exceeds the gas giant threshold.
Gas giants form when massive cores capture enormous atmospheres of light gases. They typically form beyond the 'frost line' where volatiles can condense.
Classification Criteria:
✓ Hydrogen + Helium: 86.0% (>60% required)✓ Mass: 90.3x Earth (>10x required)
Further reading
Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar PlanetsMichael Summers & James TrefilThe strange end of the catalogue — carbon worlds, molten rock, planets orbiting dead stars.The Little Book of ExoplanetsJoshua WinnHow these worlds are found, and what a measurement can honestly tell us.Envisioning ExoplanetsMichael CarrollWhat these worlds might look like from the ground, painted from the same measurements this page renders.Imagined LifeJames Trefil & Michael SummersWhat could live on a world like this one: ice shells, supergravity, tidally locked twilight.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases — if you buy through these links, TerraForge may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Habitability ScoreUninhabitable
0
Contributing Factors
temperature0
Inferno world - temperatures exceed all possibility of life
atmosphere30
Hydrogen-rich atmosphere typical of gas giants
water15
No solid surface — any water is locked in a supercritical mantle and hot ice, not oceans
magnetic Field100
Magnetic field provides radiation protection
geology40
Extreme volcanic activity may be hazardous
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation65
Slow rotation - significant day/night temperature variations, but life can adapt

Physical Properties

Mass
90.30x Earth (5.39e+26 kg)
Radius
4.49x Earth (28,583 km)
This planet: 4.49× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
4.49x Earth (44.0 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
1,440 K (1,167 °C / 2,132 °F)
Rotation Period
79.0 hours/day (slower than Earth)
This planet: 79 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Orbital Environment

Star Type
G-type (Yellow (Sun-like))
Distance from Star
0.04 AU (6.72 million km)
Orbital Period
3 days
Time Dilation
Clocks run 10.4 seconds per year slower than deep space — about 14 minutes over a lifetime

Atmosphere

Hydrogen and helium dominated with trace methane and ammonia

Elemental Composition

H - Hydrogen
53.8%
He - Helium
32.3%
O - Oxygen
5.4%

Surface Characteristics

No solid surface - thick gaseous envelope with possible rocky core deep within
A binary star system's orrery: two suns close together, a red dashed dead-zone boundary, and a debris trail left by a destroyed world

New: Binary Star Systems 🌀

A system can now orbit two suns. Add a companion star when you build one — close, medium, or wide — and the physics decides what survives: a shared center of mass carves out a dead zone where gravity from both stars tears a world apart, leaving it as debris, and every surviving planet's orbit goes elliptical, moving fastest at closest approach and slowest out at aphelion. Push the separation to wide and the dead zone opens tens of AU across, wide enough to gut a system that would have been stable around one star alone. Stand on a world that made it through and you'll watch two suns cross the sky together.

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