According to SIMBAD, WASP-13 was first observed in 1997, when it was catalogued by astronomers measuring the proper motion of stars in regions of the sky where galaxies are detected [REF].
Follow-up observations were conducted by a team of British, Spanish, French, Swiss and American astronomers using the photometer on the James Gregory Telescope in Scotland; using visual comparisons to the nearby bright star HD 80408, the star's light curve was better defined.