WASP-80


WASP-80 is a K-type main-sequence star about 162 light-years away from Earth. The star's age is much younger than the Sun's at 1.352 billion years. WASP-80 could be similar to the Sun in concentration of heavy elements, although this measurement is highly uncertain.
The star was named Petra in 2019 by Jordanian amateur astronomers as part of the NameExoWorlds contest.
Three multiplicity surveys in 2015-2018 did not detect any stellar companions to WASP-80, but a survey in 2020 detected a 0.07 companion candidate at an angular separation 2.132 arcseconds, with a false alarm probability of 3%.

Planetary system

In 2013 a transiting hot Jupiter planet WASP-80 b was detected on a tight, circular orbit. The planet was named Wadirum by Jordanian astronomers in December 2019. Its equilibrium temperature is, while measured temperature of the dayside is 937 K and temperature of the nightside is 851 K. This temperature difference indicates a rather low planetary albedo and weak global transport of heat.
Measurement of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect in 2015 revealed WASP-80b's is orbit is well-aligned with the equatorial plane of the star, with orbital obliquity equal to 14°.
Although one transmission spectrum of the planetary atmosphere showed signs of ionised potassium, another measurement in 2017 yielded a gray and featureless spectrum, probably due to a high cloud deck or haze in the atmosphere of WASP-80b. Evidence for water vapour and methane molecules were found for the planet through observations of JWST. This discovery helped uncovers the origin and evolution of the planet.