WASP-87 b is a sizzling hot Jupiter orbiting the star WASP-87, discovered in 2016 using the clever transit method that spots planets by the tiny dip they cause in their star’s light. This fiery giant was unveiled with the help of the Anglo-Australian Telescope’s UCLES Spectrograph, right here from good old Earth. Picture a world so close to its star that it’s locked in a blazing embrace, making it a charred cousin to our own Jupiter but way too hot for any kind of vacation. While its exact distance from Earth isn’t the headline, WASP-87 b’s discovery adds an exciting chapter to the story of distant worlds, inviting us to imagine what mysteries these scorching gas giants hold in the cosmic neighborhood.
