WASP-26 is a Sun-like F-type star (about 0.86 solar masses, 6,034 K, 1.22 solar radii), 253 light-years from Earth. WASP-26 b is a 0.85-Jupiter-mass companion, with an orbital period of 2.8 days, discovered in 2010 via transit. The inner world is a hot Jupiter — a gas giant hugging its star at a fraction of Mercury's distance — a class that forced astronomers to rethink how giant planets form and migrate inward. The planet's large radius (13.6 Earth radii) indicates a bloated atmosphere heated by intense stellar radiation.