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Description
We report the discovery of HAT-P-26b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the moderately bright V=11.744 K1 dwarf star GSC 0320-01027, with a period P=4.234516+/-0.000015 days, transit epoch T_c_=2455304.65122+/-0.00035 (BJD; Barycentric Julian dates throughout the paper are calculated from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)), and transit duration 0.1023+/-0.0010 days. The host star has a mass of 0.82+/-0.03M_{sun}_, radius of 0.79^+0.10^_-0.04_R_{sun}_, effective temperature 5079+/-88K, and metallicity [Fe/H]=-0.04+/-0.08. The planetary companion has a mass of 0.059+/-0.007M_J_, and radius of 0.565^+0.072^_-0.032_R_J_ yielding a mean density of 0.40+/-0.10g/cm^3^. HAT-P-26b is the fourth Neptune-mass transiting planet discovered to date. It has a mass that is comparable to those of Neptune and Uranus, and slightly smaller than those of the other transiting Super-Neptunes, but a radius that is ~65% larger than those of Neptune and Uranus, and also larger than those of the other transiting Super-Neptunes. HAT-P-26b is consistent with theoretical models of an irradiated Neptune-mass planet with a 10M_{earth}_ heavy element core that comprises >~50% of its mass with the remainder contained in a significant hydrogen-helium envelope, though the exact composition is uncertain as there are significant differences between various theoretical models at the Neptune-mass regime. The equatorial declination of the star makes it easily accessible to both Northern and Southern ground-based facilities for follow-up observations.
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