WASP-76

Star

WASP-76 — a hot, bright F-type star about 1.5 solar masses, ~634 light-years away in Pisces. Its fierce heat is what drives the iron rain on the giant planet hugging it.

Open in 3D viewSee WASP-76 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Mass

2.90 × 10³⁰ kg

1.46 M☉

Radius

1,221,649 km

1.76× wider than the Sun

Surface temperature

6,329 K (6,056 °C)

Spectral type

F7 (a hot white star, ~1.5 solar masses)

Science

Physical

Mass: 2.90 × 10³⁰ kg · 1.46 M☉
Radius: 1,221,649 km · 1.76× wider than the Sun
Density: 380 kg/m³ · 0.38× water; Computed from mass and radius
Spectral type: F7 (a hot white star, ~1.5 solar masses)

Motion through space

Proper motion: 0.061 arcseconds per year · its drift across our sky; SIMBAD — 2020yCat.1350....0G, 2018A&A...616A...7S
Radial velocity: -1.2 km/s · approaching the Sun; SIMBAD — 2020yCat.1350....0G, 2018A&A...616A...7S
Speed across our line of sight: 54.7 km/s; Computed from proper motion and parallax
Speed through space, relative to the Sun: 54.7 km/s; Computed from proper motion, parallax and radial velocity

Composition

By mass: A hot F-type star in Pisces; its blistering output vaporises iron on the giant hugging it.

Temperature

Surface: 6,329 K (6,056 °C)

Radiation & temperature

Luminosity: 1.71 × 10²⁷ W · 4.46 L☉
Surface temperature: 6,329 K (6,056 °C)
Peak wavelength: 458 nm · blue light; Computed (Wien's law) from the surface temperature

Discovery & history

Method: Telescope
Name: A WASP-survey catalogue designation.

Catalogued by the WASP survey, which saw its inflated hot Jupiter transiting in 2016.

Images

Where to find it — in Pisces, the Fishes (IAU constellation chart). To the eye it is a single point of light; no telescope has imaged its surface. — IAU / Sky & Telescope, R. Sinnott & R. Fienberg (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image