WASP-17

WASP-17 is a main sequence star about 1,300 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. It has the spectral type F6V.^[1]

WASP-17 is also known as Dìwö. The name was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign by Costa Rica. At that time, it was the 100th anniversary of the IAU. Dìwö in Bribri language means the sun.^[2][3]

The star has about the same amount of heavy elements as the Sun. However, it has less carbon than the Sun. The carbon-to-oxygen molar ratio of 0.18±0.04 for WASP-17 is far below the solar ratio of 0.55.^[4]

Planetary system

See the main article: WASP-17b

An extrasolar planet known as WASP-17b was confirmed orbiting the star as of 2009. The star is unusual for the reason that WASP-17b^[5][6] is believed to orbit in the opposite direction to the direction the star spins and is said to be twice the size of Jupiter, but half its mass. It is subject to deep photo-evaporation, and may be completely destroyed within 1 billion years from now.^[7]

WASP-17b was discovered by SuperWASP project. For this reason, the name of the planet and the star has WASP in them.

References

1. "Newfound Planet Orbits Backward". Space.com. 12 August 2009.
2. "Approved names". NameExoworlds. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
3. "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
4. Polanski, Alex S.; Crossfield, Ian J. M.; Howard, Andrew W.; Isaacson, Howard; Rice, Malena (2022), Chemical Abundances for 25 JWST Exoplanet Host Stars with KeckSpec, arXiv:2207.13662
5. BBC NEWS | Science & Environment |
6. New-found Planet Orbits Backward
7. D. Ehrenreich and J.-M. Désert, "Mass-loss rates for transiting exoplanets", 2011