WASP-56 is a sun-like star of spectral type G6 about 1,070 light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It has an apparent magnitude of 11.48. Observations at the Calar Alto Observatory using the lucky imaging technique detected a candidate companion star located 3.4 arcseconds away, however it was not known if this is an actual binary companion or an optical double. It was confirmed in 2019 using Gaia DR2 data.
Planetary system It has a planet that was discovered by transit photometry in 2011 by the SuperWASP program. Fourteen transits were observed over three watching seasons, each lasting 214 minutes and reducing the stars' brightness by 14 millimagnitudes. The planet has around 0.6 times the mass of Jupiter and an orbital period of 4.6 days. The planet possibly has a large core of heavy metals.
References