CoRoT-1

The designation "CoRoT" is a result of its observation by the French-directed Convection, Rotation, and Planetary Transits mission, which was launched in late December 2006 with one goal involving the search for exoplanets by measuring the varying brightness of candidate stars when transited by any present exoplanets;^[7] CoRoT's second goal pertains to the study of the interiors of stars, which is done by analyzing the characteristics and behavior of light released from the star.^[8] The numerical designation was assigned because the first exoplanet discovered by the CoRoT telescope was found in orbit of this star.^[9] CoRoT-1 does not have a common or colloquial name like that of Sirius or Procyon.

CoRoT-1 is a G-type star, meaning the light it emits is similar to that of the Sun's. Likewise, the star is of nearly the same temperature and mass of the Sun.^[3] At an apparent magnitude of approximately +13.6,^[3] doubly dimmer than the dimmest star visible with the naked eye, CoRoT-1 cannot be seen from Earth without magnification apparatus.^[10]

A search for a binary companion star using Lucky imaging observations with the Danish 1.54 m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile did not find any candidate companion stars.^[11]

This star is home to the transiting exoplanet CoRot-1b, the first exoplanet discovered by the CoRoT Mission spacecraft.^[12] The planet, which is similar to that of the planet Jupiter's in terms of mass, orbits approximately .02 AU away from its parent star.^[8] In comparison, the planet Mercury orbits at approximately .387 AU from the Sun.^[13] CoRoT-1b is presumed to be tidally locked to its star.^[14]

The planet was the first to be sighted optically rather than through infrared.^[15] Unlike other "hot Jupiters," this occurrence seems to imply that the heat transfer between the hemisphere of the planet facing the star and the hemisphere facing away is not significant.^[14]

• Lists of exoplanets