WASP-78

WASP-78 is a yellow-white F-type star located approximately 1,100 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. It is part of the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) project, which aims to discover exoplanets using transit photometry. WASP-78 is slightly larger and more massive than the Sun.

The primary notable feature of WASP-78 is its confirmed exoplanet, WASP-78b, a hot Jupiter. Hot Jupiters are gas giant exoplanets with orbital periods of only a few days, placing them extremely close to their host stars. WASP-78b orbits WASP-78 in approximately 2.2 days. Due to its proximity to the star, WASP-78b is intensely heated and possesses a very high atmospheric temperature.

The discovery of WASP-78b has allowed astronomers to study the atmospheric properties of hot Jupiters, including their chemical composition and temperature profiles. Research on WASP-78b, and similar exoplanets, contributes to our understanding of planet formation and migration processes in planetary systems beyond our own. The star itself serves as a benchmark for stellar parameters in the context of exoplanet studies.