HD 63454 is a ninth magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 K-type main sequence

Orange dwarf

A K-type main-sequence star , also referred to orange dwarf, are main-sequence stars of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence stars and yellow G-type main-sequence stars...

 star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

 located approximately 117 light-year

Light-year

A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...

s away in the constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

 of Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon

Chamaeleon is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a form of lizard. It was first defined in the sixteenth century.-History:...

. It is somewhat cooler and less luminous than our Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. To see the star one needs a small telescope

Telescope

A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

. It is located near the south celestial pole

Celestial pole

The north and south celestial poles are the two imaginary points in the sky where the Earth's axis of rotation, indefinitely extended, intersects the imaginary rotating sphere of stars called the celestial sphere...

 and is never visible north of latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

 12°N.

Planetary system

On Valentine’s Day 2005, a hot Jupiter

Hot Jupiter

Hot Jupiters are a class of extrasolar planet whose mass is close to or exceeds that of Jupiter...

 HD 63454 b

HD 63454 b

HD 63454 b is an extrasolar planet located approximately 117 light-years away in the constellation of Chamaeleon, orbiting the star HD 63454. It is at least 38% as massive as Jupiter, and orbits very close to its host star, even closer than the famous 51 Pegasi b. Its close orbit means it belongs...

 was found by Moutou, Mayor

Michel Mayor

Dr. Michel G. E. Mayor is a Swiss astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva's Department of Astronomy. He formally retired in 2007, but remains active as a researcher at the Observatory of Geneva...

, and Bouchy using the radial velocity method.