  This paper presents estimations on the possibility of detection of
ellipsoidal variations by means of measuring brightness of the star distorted
by a close massive planet using Wilson-Devinney method. The problem was already
discussed by Phafl et al. (2008) and earlier by Loeb and Gaudi (2003). The
effect is well known in the case of binary stars where it can produce light
curves with amplitutudes of ellipsoidal variations of about 0.1 mag for
distorted stars. For planets the effect is very small and usually less than
0.0001 mag. The detection of an exoplanet, by searching for small amplitude
ellipsoidal variations, will be very difficult and affected by other
photometric effects; however, it maybe possible for some extreme cases.
Observations of ellipsoidal variations can provide additional constraints on
the model of the system. Light curves for few star/planet systems have been
calculated using PHOEBE eclipsing binary software based on Wilson-Devinney
method. As an example of ellipsoidal variations the synthetic light curve for
tau Bootis is presented. The amplitude of ellipsoidal variation is 0.01 mmag.
The companion is massive 7.3 Mjup and short-period hot Jupiter.
