Astronomical evidence
WASP-12 b is an inflated giant in an orbit lasting about 1.09 days. Close to its host, the difference in stellar gravity across the planet becomes significant. Tidal models predict a departure from a perfectly spherical shape, with elongation related to the direction of the star. Ultraviolet observations support the presence of extended, escaping atmospheric material. This is evidence about absorption and the spatial extent of gas, rather than a resolved photograph of the diffuse stream pictured here. Its rendered morphology should be read as an interpretation. Hubble observations also found very low reflectivity in the visible wavelength range studied. Low reflected light does not imply that a hot planet emits no radiation: reflected starlight and the planet’s own thermal emission are different components of the energy budget.
The illustrated viewpoint
The artwork deliberately makes tidal elongation and escaping haze easy to see. Their exact strength, color and geometry are not fitted to an observational epoch. The enclosing structure and all nearby activity remain fictional.
The artwork deliberately makes tidal elongation and escaping haze easy to see. Their exact strength, color and geometry are not fitted to an observational epoch. The enclosing structure and all nearby activity remain fictional. All depicted life and technology are fictional.
Catalog measurements & sources
Host: WASP-12. Snapshot: 25 September 2026. Errors, limits and source provenance are retained. Calculated values and model estimates are not direct measurements. Unknown is not zero; equilibrium temperature is not surface temperature.
| Quantity / unit | Value / reported errors | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Radius · Earth radii | 22.0256 (+0.98639 / -0.975181) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Mass · Earth masses | 467.21 (+24.1551 / -21.9303) | Collins et al. 2017 |
| Density · g/cm³ | 0.266 (+0.015 / -0.014) | Collins et al. 2017 |
| Orbital period · days | 1.09142 (+1.8e-08 / -1.8e-08) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Orbital semimajor axis · AU | 0.0234 (+0.001 / -0.001) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Eccentricity | 0.0447 (+0.0043 / -0.0043) | Turner et al. 2016 |
| Inclination · degrees | 81.8 (+0.29 / -0.27) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Irradiation · Earth flux | 8220.58 | ExoFOP |
| Equilibrium temperature · K | 2601 (+18 / -18) | Öztürk & Erdem 2019 |
| Stellar effective temperature · K | 6265 (+50 / -50) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Stellar radius · Solar | 1.69 (+0.019 / -0.018) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Stellar mass · Solar | 1.325 (+0.026 / -0.018) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Stellar luminosity · log Solar | 0.59711 (+0.02779 / -0.02505) | Barstow et al. 2017 |
| Stellar age · Gyr | 3.05 (+0.32 / -0.32) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Stellar metallicity · dex | 0.12 (+0.07 / -0.07) | Leonardi et al. 2024 |
| Distance · pc | 427.246 (+6.068 / -5.903) | TICv8 |
References
- NASA Exoplanet Archive · WASP-12 b · composite snapshot, 25 September 2026
- Li et al. 2010 · tidal deformation model
- NASA/Hubble · low optical reflectivity
- NASA/Hubble · atmospheric escape
- Leonardi et al. 2024
- Collins et al. 2017
- Hebb et al. 2009
- Turner et al. 2016
- ExoFOP
- Öztürk & Erdem 2019
- Barstow et al. 2017
- TICv8