WASP-61 is a Sun-like F-type star (about 1.82 solar masses, 6,250 K, 1.55 solar radii), 489 light-years from Earth. WASP-61 b is a 2.68-Jupiter-mass companion, with an orbital period of 3.9 days, discovered in 2012 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 (15.8 Earth radii) indicates a bloated atmosphere heated by intense stellar radiation.