Star in the constellation Centaurus
! style="text-align: center; background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Observation dataEpoch J2000      Equinox J2000
! style="text-align:left" | Constellation
! style="text-align:left" | Right ascension
! style="text-align:left" | Declination
! style="text-align:left" | Apparent magnitude (V)
! style="background-color: #FFFFC0; text-align: center;" colspan="2"| Characteristics
! style="text-align:left" | Evolutionary stage
! style="text-align:left" | Spectral type
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WASP-42 is a K-type main-sequence star. Its surface temperature is 5315±79 K. WASP-42 is similar to the Sun in concentration of heavy elements, with metallicity ([Fe/H]) of 0.05±0.13, and is much older than the Sun at billion years. The star does exhibit starspot activity as is typical for its spectral class.
Multiplicity surveys did not detect any stellar companions to WASP-42 in 2017.
Planetary system.
In 2012, one planet, named WASP-42b, was discovered on a tight, mildly eccentric orbit. The planetary equilibrium temperature is 1021±19 K.
! align=center| Companion
! align=center| Mass
! align=center| Semimajor axis
! align=center| Orbital period
! align=center| Eccentricity
! align=center| Inclination
! align=center| Radius
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;
 ;indicator name="01-sky-coordinates" ; ;templatestyles src="Template:Sky/styles.css" / ;Coordinates: &amp;zoom=&amp;show_grid=1&amp;show_constellation_lines=1&amp;show_constellation_boundaries=1&amp;show_const_names=1&amp;show_galaxies=1&amp;img_source=IMG_all 12h 51m 55.5580s, −42° 04′ 25.0949″ ;/indicator ;