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    Gliese 876

    Gliese 876
    Gliese 876 (center). Credit: Digitized Sky Survey
    A red dwarf around which has been found a planet with about twice the mass of Jupiter. This is the closest known extrasolar planet to the Sun and the first to be detected and confirmed in orbit around a dwarf star. Although Gliese 876b is considerably closer to its primary than Mercury is to the Sun, it has an estimated surface temperature of only -75°C due to the red dwarf's low luminosity. The high mass of Gliese 876b suggests that it is a gas giant and therefore probably unsuitable, in any case, to terrestrial-type life. Any large moons that it might have, however, might offer more clement conditions for life as we know it. The relatively high eccentricity of the planet's orbit provides another reminder that our own solar system is not necessarily representative of planetary systems as a whole.


    Host star
    Distance 15.38 light-years (4.72 pc)
    Spectral type M4 V
    Mass (Sun=1) 0.6
    Luminosity (Sun=1) 0.025
    Absolute magnitude 10.17



    Gliese 876
    The Gliese 876 system, as seen from a hypothetical moon of the outer planet. Artist: Lynette Cook, © 2000
    Planet
    Mass (Jupiter=1) 2.1
    Semi-major axis 0.21 AU (32 million km, 20 million miles)
    Orbital period 60.85 days
    Eccentricity 0.27
    Year of discovery 1998
    Discoverers Marcy et al (SFSU); Delfosse et al (Geneva)
    Method of discovery radial velocity


    Related categories

       • NOTABLE STARS
       • EXTRASOLAR PLANETS


    References
    1. Delfosse, X., Forveille, T., Mayor, M., Perrier, C., Naef, D., and Queloz, D. "The Closest Extrasolar Planet: A Giant Planet Around the M4 Dwarf Gl 876," Astronomy & Astrophysics, 338, L67 (1998).
    2. Marcy, G. W., Butler, R. P., Vogt, S. S., Fischer, D., and Lissauer, J. "A Planetary Companion to the M4 Red Dwarf, Gliese 876," Astrophysical Journal Letters, 505, L147 (1998).

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