WASP-12b
A hot Jupiter as dark as asphalt that circles its star in about a day.
WASP-12b is a hot Jupiter orbiting the star WASP-12, discovered in April 2008 by the SuperWASP transit survey. It completes an orbit in a little over one Earth day at a distance of roughly 3.5 million km, and the intense heating from its star has inflated it to one of the lowest densities known for an exoplanet.
Hubble observations reported water in its atmosphere in 2013, and in 2017 showed that it reflects only about 6% of the light that falls on it, making it nearly black, although it is hot enough to glow faintly red.
Quick Facts
- Discoverer
- Cameron et al. (SuperWASP)
- Discovery site
- SAAO
- Discovered
- April 2008
- Discovery method
- Transit
- Star
- WASP-12
- Density
- 266 kg/m3
- Surface gravity
- 3.004, 0.015 g
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