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WASP-18
Star in the constellation Phoenix From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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WASP-18 is a magnitude 9 star located 400 light-years (120 parsecs) away in the Phoenix constellation of the southern hemisphere.[1] It has a mass of 1.29 solar masses.[6]
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The star, although similar to the Sun in terms of overall contents of heavy elements, is depleted in carbon. The carbon to oxygen molar ratio of 0.23±0.05 for WASP-18 is well below the solar ratio of 0.55.[9]
There is a red dwarf companion star at a separation of 3,519 AU.[5]
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In 2009, the SuperWASP project announced the discovery of a large, hot Jupiter type exoplanet, WASP-18b, orbiting very close to this star. It has an orbital period of less than a day and a mass 10 times that of Jupiter.[4]
Observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory failed to find any X-rays coming from WASP-18,[10] and it is thought that this is caused by WASP-18b disrupting the star's magnetic field by causing a reduction in convection in the star's atmosphere. Tidal forces from the planet may also explain the higher amounts of lithium measured in earlier optical studies of WASP-18.[11]
A 2019 study proposed a second candidate planet with a 2-day orbital period based on transit-timing variations,[12] but a 2020 study using data from both TESS and ground-based surveys ruled out the existence of a planet with the proposed properties, setting an upper limit of 10 Earth masses on any planet with this period.[6]
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