WASP-12b

exoplanet · hot jupiter · space discovery

Super speedy orbit. WASP-12b zooms around its star in just over 24 hours, while Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun. It's one of the fastest-orbiting planets we know about.

Scorching hot world. Because WASP-12b is so close to its star, it's incredibly hot and has one of the lowest densities of all known exoplanets, meaning it's puffed up like a giant balloon.

Water in the sky. In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted water vapor in WASP-12b's atmosphere, giving us clues about what this distant world is made of.

Found by transit survey. Scientists discovered WASP-12b in 2008 using the SuperWASP planetary transit survey, which looks for tiny dips in starlight when planets pass in front of their stars.