WASP-66

WASP-66, also known as TYC 7193-1804-1, is an F-type star in the constellation Antlia. It has an apparent magnitude of 11.6, which is much too faint to be seen with the unaided eye and is located at a distance of 1,630light-years.

WASP-66 has a classification of F4, which states that it is an ordinary F-type main sequence star that is fusing hydrogen at its core. At present it has 130% the mass of the Sun and 175 the radius of the Sun. It has an effective temperature of 6,600K, which gives it a yellowish-white hue. The star is younger than the Sun at, 3.7+0.7 −1.2 billion years, and may be either metal-poor or similar to Sun in its concentration of heavy elements. Currently it is spinning moderately with a projected rotational velocity of 13.4 km/s.

According to a survey published in 2017, WASP-66 has one suspected companion - a red dwarf star with an effective temperature of 3,330±150K and a projected separation of 6,800±700AU.

Planetary system

In 2012, a superjovian planet around WASP-66 was discovered. WASP-66b has a mass that is about 2.3 times that of Jupiter. It takes just over 4 days to complete an orbit around its star, making it a typical hot Jupiter. The planet was discovered by the transit method – this is when a planet passes in front of a star, temporarily blocking some of the star's light.

The planetary orbit is well aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, the misalignment angle being equal to −4±22°.