WASP-19, formally named Wattle,[8] is a magnitude 12.3 star about 869 light-years (266 parsecs) away, located in the Vela constellation of the southern hemisphere.[9] This star has been found to host a transiting hot Jupiter-type planet in tight orbit.
WASP-19 is older than the Sun, has a fraction of heavy elements above the solar abundance, and is rotating rapidly, being spun up by the tides raised by the giant planet on a close orbit.[5]
The designation WASP-19 indicates that this was the 19th star found to have a planet by the Wide Angle Search for Planets.
In August 2022, this planetary system was included among 20 systems to be named by the third NameExoWorlds project.[10] The approved names were proposed by a team from Brandon Park Primary School in Wheelers Hill (Melbourne, Australia), led by scientist Lance Kelly and teacher David Maierhofer [11] and announced in June 2023. WASP-19 is named "Wattle" and its planet is named "Banksia", after the plant genera Wattle (specifically the golden wattle Acacia pycnantha) and Banksia (specifically the scarlet banksia Banksia coccinea) respectively.[8]
In December 2009, the SuperWASP project announced that a hot Jupiter type exoplanet, WASP-19b, was orbiting very close to this star and with the shortest orbital period of any transiting exoplanet known at the time.[9]
Companion (in order from star) |
Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) |
Orbital period (days) |
Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b / Banksia | 1.168±0.023 MJ | 0.01634 ± 0.00019 | 0.7888396 ± 0.00000010 | 0 | 78.76 ± 0.13° | 1.18±0.12 RJ |