WASP-12 is a magnitude 11 yellow dwarf star located approximately 1347 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. WASP-12 has a mass and radius similar to the Sun and is known for being orbited by a planet that is extremely hot and has a retrograde orbit around WASP-12. WASP-12 forms a triple star system with two red dwarf companions. Both of them have spectral types of M3V and are only 38% and 37% as massive as the Sun, respectively.
Planetary system
In 2008, the exoplanet WASP-12b was discovered orbiting WASP-12 by SuperWASP, using the transit method. It is a hot Jupiter completing an orbit around its star in just one day. Its high carbon-to-oxygen ratio indicates that rocky planets might have formed in the star system, and it may be a carbon planet. It is subject to intensive photo-evaporation, and may be completely destroyed within one billion years from now. In 2015, no indications of additional planets were found in the WASP-12 system.
References
External links WASP-12b in transit (lightcurve) "WASP-12". Exoplanets. Archived from the original on 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2009-05-06.