text: wasp - 44 wasp - 44 is a g - type star in constellation cetus that has the jupiter - size planet wasp - 44b in orbit . the star is slightly less massive and slightly smaller than the sun ; it is also slightly cooler , but is more metal - rich . the star was observed by superwasp , an organization in search of planets , starting in 2009 ; manual follow - up observations used wasp - 44 's spectrum and measurements of its radial velocity led to the discovery of the transiting planet wasp - 44b . the planet and its star were presented along with wasp - and wasp - 46b on may 17 , 2011 by a team of scientists testing the idea that hot jupiters tend to have circular orbits , an assumption that is made when the orbital eccentricity of such planets are not well - constrained . observational history wasp - 44 was observed between july and november 2009 by the wasp - south , a station of the superwasp planet - searching program based at the south african astronomical observatory . observations of the star revealed a periodic decrease in its brightness . wasp - south , along with the superwasp - north station at the roque de los muchachos observatory on the canary islands , collected 15 , 755 photometric observations , allowing scientists to produce a more accurate light curve . another set of observations yielded a 6 , 000 point photometric data set , but the light curve was prepared late and was not considered in the discovery paper . in 2010 , a european science team investigated the star using the coralie spectrograph and collected seventeen spectra of wasp - 44 . from the spectra , radial velocity measurements were extrapolated . analysis of collected coralie data ruled out the possibility that the detected radial velocity was caused by the blended spectrum of a spectroscopic binary star , supporting the possibility that the body orbiting wasp - 44 was indeed a planet , designated wasp - 44b . the leonhard euler telescope at la silla observatory in chile was used to follow up on the discovery circling wasp - 44 , searching for a point at which the planet transited , or crossed in front of , its host star . one transit was detected . wasp - 44 , its recently discovered planet , the planets orbiting wasp - 45 and wasp - 46 , and a discussion exploring the validity of the common assumption amongst scientists that closely orbiting hot jupiter planets have highly circular orbits unless proven otherwise , were reported in a single discovery paper that was published on may 17 , 2011 by the royal astronomical society . the paper was submitted to the monthly notices of the royal astronomical society on may 16 , 2011 . characteristics wasp - 44 is a g - type star ( the same class of star as the sun ) that is located in the cetus constellation . wasp - 44 has a mass that is 0 . 951 times that of the sun . in terms of size , wasp - 44 has a radius that is 0 . 927 times that of the sun . wasp - 44 has an effective temperature of 5410 k , cooler than the sun . however , the star is metal - rich with relation to the sun . its measured metallicity is [ fe / h ] 0 . 06 , or 1 . 148 times that the amount of iron found in the sun . wasp - 44 's chromosphere ( outermost layer ) is not active . the star also does not rotate at a high velocity . the star has an apparent magnitude of 12 . 9 . it cannot be seen from earth with the naked eye . planetary system there is one known planet in the orbit of wasp - 44 : wasp - 44b . the planet is a hot jupiter with a mass of 0 . 889 jupiters . its radius is 1 . 14 times that of jupiter . wasp - 44b orbits its host star every 2 . days at a distance 0 . au , approximately 3 . 47 % the mean distance between the earth and sun . with an orbital inclination of , wasp - 44b has an orbit that exists almost edge - on to its host star with respect to earth . - 44b 's orbital eccentricity is fit to 0 . 036 , indicating a mostly circular orbit .