WASP-12b is an exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star in the constellation Auriga, about 1,400 light-years from Earth, which was found by the SuperWASP survey, a network of wide-angle cameras that watch for the dimming of stars as planets cross them. It is a hot Jupiter, a giant gas planet that orbits extremely close to its star, completing a circuit in little more than a day. The intense heat and the star's gravity have distorted the planet into an egg shape, and material is being stripped from its atmosphere. Astronomers have measured how its orbit is slowly shrinking, so it is expected to be torn apart or swallowed by the star in the distant future.
Before and after
- 17 February 20082008 Kosovo declaration of independence
- 26 February 2008Construction of Svalbard Global Seed Vault
- 27 February 2008Creation of Windows Server 2008
- March 2008Construction of Beijing National Stadium
- 1 April 2008Discovery of WASP-12b
- 10 April 2008Launch of GitHub
- 29 April 2008Release of Grand Theft Auto IV
- 12 May 20082008 Sichuan earthquake
- 19 May 2008First flight of Yakovlev SJ-100
More in Universe & space
- 1 May 1949Discovery of Nereid
- 20 August 1977Launch of Voyager 2
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Galatea
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Hydra
- 10 September 2005Discovery of Dysnomia
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.