WASP-18 is a magnitude 9 star located 400 light-years (120 parsecs) away in the Phoenix constellation of the southern hemisphere.
[6] The star, although similar to the Sun in terms of overall contents of heavy elements, is depleted in carbon.
[5] In 2009, the SuperWASP project announced the discovery of a large, hot Jupiter type exoplanet, WASP-18b, orbiting very close to this star.
[4] Observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory failed to find any X-rays coming from WASP-18,[10] and it is thought that this is caused by WASP-18b disrupting the star's magnetic field by causing a reduction in convection in the star's atmosphere.
Tidal forces from the planet may also explain the higher amounts of lithium measured in earlier optical studies of WASP-18.