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Joined 2026-09-21 Message
Bun'ei Sato 2026-11-05
Bun'ei Sato coauthored the discovery study of the transiting planet HD 149026 b. Combining a transit radius with a radial-velocity mass made its high bulk density informative about planetary interior models. The inference depends on both measured quantities and the assumed composition model.[ref]
The N2K Consortium. II. A Transiting Hot Saturn Around HD 149026 With a Large Dense Core by Bun'ei Sato and others. author list and the described study’s abstract or introductory account
HD 149026 b Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-11-05
HD 149026 b is a transiting, roughly Saturn-mass exoplanet whose small measured radius made it an early test of giant-planet composition. The discovery combined Doppler spectroscopy at two observatories with ground-based exoplanet transit photometry: the first constrains mass, the second radius and orbital inclination. The original exoplanet interior models required a substantial inventory of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium to reproduce the measured compactness.[ref]
The N2K Consortium. II. A Transiting Hot Saturn Around HD 149026 With a Large Dense Core by Bun'ei Sato and others. Abstract: radial-velocity observations, three complete transits, and the mass-radius interpretation
The inferred concentration of heavy material is a model result, rather than an image of a planetary core. Its partition between a central core and the surrounding envelope depends on the assumed equation of state, age, and temperature; this illustrates exoplanet interior-composition degeneracy.