WASP-19, formally named Wattle,[8] is a magnitude 12.3 star about 869 light-years (266 parsecs) away, located in the Vela constellation of the southern hemisphere.
[9] This star has been found to host a transiting hot Jupiter-type planet in tight orbit.
WASP-19 is older than the Sun, has a fraction of heavy elements above the solar abundance, and is rotating rapidly, being spun up by the tides raised by the giant planet on a close orbit.
[10] The approved names were proposed by a team from Brandon Park Primary School in Wheelers Hill (Melbourne, Australia), led by scientist Lance Kelly and teacher David Maierhofer [11] and announced in June 2023.
[8] In December 2009, the SuperWASP project announced that a hot Jupiter type exoplanet, WASP-19b, was orbiting very close to this star and with the shortest orbital period of any transiting exoplanet known at the time.