DSO Name + Info Images and/or captions

Orion Nebula
●​ Diffuse nebula
●​ Apparent magnitude of 4.0
●​ Distance is 1,344 ± 20 light-years
(412.1 ± 6.1 pc)
●​ 24 light years across
●​ 2000 solar masses
●​ Constellation Orion
●​ 700 stars forming
●​ November 26, 1610 by French
scholar Nicolas-Claude Fabri de
Peiresc

The constellation of Orion with the Orion

Nebula (lower middle)

Messier's drawing of the Orion Nebula in his

1771 memoir, Mémoires de l'Académie
Royale

Henry Draper's 1880 photograph of the

Orion Nebula, the first ever taken.

One of Andrew Ainslie Common's 1883

photographs of the Orion Nebula, the first to
show that a long exposure could record new
stars and nebulae invisible to the human
eye.

A starchart of the Orion Nebula.

 Optical images reveal clouds of gas and
dust in the Orion Nebula; an infrared image
(right) reveals the new stars shining within.

Orion A molecular cloud from VISTA reveals

[36
many young stars and other objects.

View of several proplyds within the Orion

Nebula taken by the Hubble Space
Telescope
 Star Formation Fireworks in Orion

View of the ripples (Kelvin–Helmholtz

instability) formed by the action of stellar
winds on the cloud.

Panoramic image of the center of the

nebula, taken by the Hubble Telescope. This
view is about 2.5 light years across. The
Trapezium is at center left.
30 Doradus
●​ Tarantula Nebula
●​ H II region
●​ Apparent magnitude of 8
●​ 160,000 light years away (49 kpc)
●​ 200 to 570 pc (650 to 1860 light
years)
●​ Diameter of 200 to 570 pc (650 to
1860 light years)
●​ Discovered between 1751 and 1753
by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille
●​ Cavity formed by stellar wind from
young stars pushing gas and dust out
Hubble's high resolution view of the
star-forming region of Tarantula Nebula and
the R136 super star cluster at its center

Near Infrared picture of the center

Detail of RMC 136a, cluster NGC 2070

HD 80606b
●​ Hot Jupiter
●​ Orbits HD 80606 (G type stars)
which is in a binary star system
●​ 217 Light years away
●​ Constellation Ursa Major
●​ 4.116 times Jupiter mass
●​ 1.003 times Jupiter radius
●​ Discovered by radial velocity
●​ 0.93 eccentricity
●​ Orbital radius of 0.4565 AU
●​ Orbital Period of 111.4 days
●​ Discovered on April 4, 2001 by
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz

Orbital motion of HD 80606 b.

HD 80606b Transit Spectrum

 Image taken by the Spitzer telescope

WASP-17b
●​ Orbits F type star Wasp-17
●​ Gas giant
●​ 1000 light-years (310 pc) away
●​ 1.87 times Jupiter radius
●​ 0.78 times Jupiter mass Wasp-17b Light Curve
●​ Orbital radius of 0.0515 AU
●​ Orbital period of 3.7 days
●​ <0.020 eccentricity
●​ Constellation Scorpius
●​ Discovered by transit by David R.
Anderson et al (Wide Angle Search
for Planets) on August 11, 2009

Artist Rendition
WASP-121b
●​ Orbits F type star Wasp-121
●​ Gas Giant
●​ 858 light-years away
●​ 1.753 times Jupiter radius
●​ 1.157 times Jupiter mass
●​ Orbital radius of 0.02596 AU
●​ Orbital period of 1.3 days
●​ <0.0032 eccentricity
●​ Constellation Puppis
●​ Discovered by transit by L. Delrez et
al (Wide Angle Search for Planets) in
2015

Light curve of WASP-121b

Weather on WASP-121b

LTT 9779b
●​ Orbits G type star LTT 9779
●​ Neptune-like planet
●​ 264 light years (84 pc) away
●​ 0.421 times Jupiter radius
●​ 29.32 times Earth mass
●​ Orbital radius of 0.01679 AU
●​ Orbital period of 0.8 days
●​ <0.01 eccentricity
●​ Constellation Sculptor Light curve during eclipses on LTT 9779b
●​ Discovered by transit by NASA's
TESS mission in 2020

Artist Rendition
 Image

GJ 1214b Artist’s rendition

●​ Orbits M type star GJ 1214
●​ Neptune-like planet
●​ 48 light years away
●​ 0.244 times Jupiter radius
●​ 8.41 times Earth mass
●​ Orbital radius of 0.01505 AU
●​ Orbital period of 1.6 days
●​ 0.01 eccentricity
●​ Constellation Ophiuchus
●​ Discovered by transit
●​ Water discovered by Hubble
●​ Discovered on December 16, 2009

GJ 1214b Light Curve

 Comparison of GJ 1214b size

K2-18b
●​ Orbits M type star
●​ Super Earth
●​ 124 light years away
●​ 2.37 times Earth radius
●​ 8.92 times Earth mass K2-18b light curve
●​ Orbital radius of 0.1429 AU
●​ Orbital period of 32.9 days
●​ 0.2 eccentricity
●​ Discovered by transit
●​ Constellation Leo
●​ In habitable zone
●​ JWST found methane and CO2 in
atmosphere
●​ 2015 by the Kepler spacecraft

Artist Rendition

TOI-270d Light curve

-​ Orbits red dwarf star TOI-270

-​ Neptune-like planet
-​ 73.3 light-years away
-​ 2.133 time Earth radius
-​ 4.78 times Earth mass
-​ Orbital radius of 0.0721 AU
-​ Orbital period of 11.4 days
-​ Constellation Pictor
-​ 0.03 eccentricity
 -​ Discovered by transit
-​ Discovered in 2019 by TESS

Planetary system

LHS 3844b Phase curve

-​ exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf LHS

3844.
-​ 1,040 K temperature
-​ 48.5 light years away
-​ 1.32 times Earth radius
-​ 2.25 times Earth mass
-​ Albedo <0.2
-​ Orbital radius of 0.00622 AU
-​ Orbital period of 0.5 days
-​ Constellation Indus
-​ Discovered by transit Artists rendition
-​ Discovered in 2019 by TESS
PSR B1257+12 Artist’s rendition

-​ Pulsar (rotating neutron star)

-​ 1.4 solar masses
−5
-​ Radius of 10 km (1. 5 * 10 solar
radii)
-​ 28,856 K surface temperature
-​ 2300 light years away
-​ Constellation Virgo
-​ Formed from 2 white dwarfs merging
-​ System with three known planets with
an undead naming theme
-​ b is much smaller than earth, while c
and d are super earths. Exoplanet comparison
-​ Discovered in 1991 by Aleksander
Wolszczan and the Arecibo radio
telescope
-​ The exoplanets of this star were both
the first extrasolar planets and the first
pulsar planets to be discovered

c & d light curve

WD 1856+534 WD 1856+534 b light curve

-​ White dwarf
-​ Spectral type DA
-​ 0.576 solar masses
-​ 0.01263 solar radii
-​ 0.335 solar masses
-​ Surface temperature 4860 K
-​ 80 light years away
-​ Constellation Draco
-​ Has one exoplanet - it is Jupiter-like Artist’s rendition
and orbits at 0.02 AU. Migrated
inward when WD 1856+534 evolved
from red giant to white dwarf.
-​ Discovered in 2020 by TESS

55 Cancri 55 cancri e light curve

-​ Binary star system

-​ A is a main-sequence star and B is a
red dwarf
-​ 0.905 (A) and 0.264 (B) solar masses
-​ Spectral type K01V (A) and M4.5V (B)
-​ Surface temperature 5,172 K (A) and
3,320 (B).
-​ 41 light years away
-​ Constellation Cancer
-​ First system known to have 5
 exoplanets
-​ 55 cancri e (super earth) orbits
incredibly closely at 0.1 AU.
-​ Discovered on August 30, 2004 by
MacArthur and others.

Kepler-62 Kepler-62 solar system

-​ K2V Spectral class

-​ 7 byr old
-​ 0.764 solar masses
-​ 0.66 solar radius
-​ 0.2565 solar luminosity
-​ 5,062 K surface temperature
-​ 980 light years away
-​ Apparent magnitude 13.75
-​ Constellation Lyra
-​ 5 exoplanets, 2 (f & e) in the habitable
zone
-​ Part of 2MASS catalogue, exoplanets
discovered by Kepler telescope Exoplanet light curves
-​ Discovered in 2013 by Eric Agol

AU Microscopii Image from 2MASS

-​ M1Ve spectral class

-​ Young red dwarf star (22 myr old)
-​ 0.6 solar masses
-​ 0.82 solar radii
-​ 0.102 solar luminosity
-​ 31.7 light years away
-​ 3,665 K surface temperature
 -​ Apparent magnitude 8.73
-​ Constellation Microscopium
-​ Three confirmed exoplanets, the first
and second (b & c) are Neptunes and
the third (d) is a super Earth
-​ In the J Band
-​ AU Microscopii's debris disk has an
asymmetric structure and an inner
gap or hole cleared of debris so
people are studying it

Debris disk

Light Curve

Epsilon Eridani Light curve

-​ K2V spectral class

-​ 0.34 solar luminosity
-​ 0.82 solar masses
-​ 0.738 solar radii
-​ 5,084 K surface temperature
-​ Apparent magnitude 3.73
-​ 10.5 light-years away
-​ Constellation Eridanus
-​ The 13th-nearest known star to the
sun
-​ Estimated 200-800 million years old
-​ Properties that allow an Earth-like
planet to form
-​ Emission at 0.61 AU matches
emission from the sun at 1 AU
-​ Habitable zone from 0.5 to 1 AU
-​ Exoplanet: Epsilon Eridani b
discovered by radial velocity
-​ Artie P. Hatzes and his team Debris disk
discovered it in 2000
Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula
[b]
situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion, and
is known as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae
and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of 4.0. It is
[3][6]
1,344 ± 20 light-years (412.1 ± 6.1 pc) away and is the closest region of massive
star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across (so its
apparent size from Earth is approximately 1 degree). It has a mass of about 2,000 times
that of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in
[7]
Orion or the Great Orion Nebula.

The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night
[8]
sky and is among the most intensely studied celestial features. The nebula has
revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are formed from
collapsing clouds of gas and dust. Astronomers have directly observed protoplanetary
disks and brown dwarfs within the nebula, intense and turbulent motions of the gas, and
the photo-ionizing effects of massive nearby stars in the nebula.

Physical characteristics[edit]
Duration: 5 minutes and 33 seconds.

5:33

Discussing the location of the Orion Nebula, what is seen within the star-formation region, and
the effects of interstellar winds in shaping the nebula

The Orion Nebula is visible with the naked eye even from areas affected by light
pollution. It is seen as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion, which are the three stars
located south of Orion's Belt. The "star" appears fuzzy to sharp-eyed observers, and the
nebulosity is obvious through binoculars or a small telescope. The peak surface
2
brightness of the central region of M42 is about 17 Mag/arcsec and the outer bluish
2 [9]
glow has a peak surface brightness of 21.3 Mag/arcsec .

The Orion Nebula contains a very young open cluster, known as the Trapezium Cluster
due to the asterism of its primary four stars within a diameter of 1.5 light years. Two of
these can be resolved into their component binary systems on nights with good seeing,
giving a total of six stars. The stars of the Trapezium Cluster, along with many other
stars, are still in their early years. The Trapezium Cluster is a component of the much
larger Orion Nebula cluster, an association of about 2,800 stars within a diameter of 20
[10]
light years. The Orion Nebula is in turn surrounded by the much larger Orion
molecular cloud complex which is hundreds of light years across, spanning the whole
Orion Constellation. Two million years ago the Orion Nebula cluster may have been the
home of the runaway stars AE Aurigae, 53 Arietis, and Mu Columbae, which are
[11]
currently moving away from the nebula at speeds greater than 100 km/s (62 mi/s).

Coloration[edit]

Observers have long noted a distinctive greenish tint to the nebula, in addition to
regions of red and of blue-violet. The red hue is a result of the Hα recombination line
radiation at a wavelength of 656.3 nm. The blue-violet coloration is the reflected
radiation from the massive O-class stars at the core of the nebula.

The green hue was a puzzle for astronomers in the early part of the 20th century
because none of the known spectral lines at that time could explain it. There was some
speculation that the lines were caused by a new element, and the name nebulium was
coined for this mysterious material. With better understanding of atomic physics,
however, it was later determined that the green spectrum was caused by a
low-probability electron transition in doubly ionized oxygen, a so-called "forbidden
transition". This radiation was impossible to reproduce in the laboratory at the time,
because it depended on the quiescent and nearly collision-free environment found in
[12]
the high vacuum of deep space.

History[edit]
There has been speculation that the Mayans of Central America may have described
the nebula within their "Three Hearthstones" creation myth; if so, the three would
correspond to two stars at the base of Orion, Rigel and Saiph, and another, Alnitak at
the tip of the "belt" of the imagined hunter, the vertices of a nearly perfect equilateral
[vague]
triangle with Orion's Sword (including the Orion Nebula) in the middle of the
[vague]
triangle seen as the smudge of smoke from copal incense in a modern myth, or, in
(the translation it suggests of) an ancient one, the literal or figurative embers of a fiery
[13][14]
creation.

Neither Ptolemy's Almagest nor al Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars noted this nebula, even
though they both listed patches of nebulosity elsewhere in the night sky; nor did Galileo
mention it, even though he also made telescopic observations surrounding it in 1610
[15]
and 1617. This has led to some speculation that a flare-up of the illuminating stars
[16]
may have increased the brightness of the nebula.

The first discovery of the diffuse nebulous nature of the Orion Nebula is generally
credited to French astronomer Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, on November 26,
1610, when he made a record of observing it with a refracting telescope purchased by
[15]
his patron Guillaume du Vair.

The first published observation of the nebula was by the Jesuit mathematician and
astronomer Johann Baptist Cysat of Lucerne in his 1619 monograph on the comets
[17] [18]
(describing observations of the nebula that may date back to 1611). He made
comparisons between it and a bright comet seen in 1618 and described how the nebula
appeared through his telescope as:

one sees how in like manner some stars are compressed into a very narrow space and
how round about and between the stars a white light like that of a white cloud is poured
[19]
out.

His description of the center stars as different from a comet's head in that they were a
[15][19][20]
"rectangle" may have been an early description of the Trapezium Cluster. (The
first detection of three of the four stars of this cluster is credited to Galileo Galilei in a
[21] [22] [non-primary source needed]
February 4, 1617. )

The nebula was independently "discovered" (though visible to the naked eye) by several
other prominent astronomers in the following years, including by Giovanni Battista
Hodierna (whose sketch was the first published in De systemate orbis cometici, deque
[23]
admirandis coeli characteribus). In 1659, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens
published the first detailed drawing of the central region of the nebula in Systema
[24]
Saturnium.

Charles Messier observed the nebula on March 4, 1769, and he also noted three of the
stars in Trapezium. Messier published the first edition of his catalog of deep sky objects
[25]
in 1774 (completed in 1771). As the Orion Nebula was the 42nd object in his list, it
became identified as M42.

In 1865 English amateur astronomer William Huggins used his visual spectroscopy
method to examine the nebula showing it, like other nebulae he had examined, was
[26]
made up of "luminous gas". On September 30, 1880 Henry Draper used the new dry
plate photographic process with an 11-inch (28 cm) refracting telescope to make a
51-minute exposure of the Orion Nebula, the first instance of astrophotography of a
nebula in history. Another set of photographs of the nebula in 1883 saw a breakthrough
in astronomical photography when amateur astronomer Andrew Ainslie Common used
the dry plate process to record several images in exposures up to 60 minutes with a
36-inch (91 cm) reflecting telescope that he constructed in the backyard of his home in
Ealing, west London. These images for the first time showed stars and nebula detail too
[27]
faint to be seen by the human eye.

In 1902, Vogel and Eberhard discovered differing velocities within the nebula, and by
1914 astronomers at Marseilles had used the interferometer to detect rotation and
irregular motions. Campbell and Moore confirmed these results using the spectrograph,
[28]
demonstrating turbulence within the nebula.

In 1931, Robert J. Trumpler noted that the fainter stars near the Trapezium formed a
cluster, and he was the first to name them the Trapezium cluster. Based on their
magnitudes and spectral types, he derived a distance estimate of 1,800 light years. This
was three times farther than the commonly accepted distance estimate of the period but
[29]
was much closer to the modern value.

In 1993, the Hubble Space Telescope first observed the Orion Nebula. Since then, the
nebula has been a frequent target for HST studies. The images have been used to build
a detailed model of the nebula in three dimensions. Protoplanetary disks have been
observed around most of the newly formed stars in the nebula, and the destructive
effects of high levels of ultraviolet energy from the most massive stars have been
[30]
studied.

In 2005, the Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument of the Hubble Space Telescope
finished capturing the most detailed image of the nebula yet taken. The image was
taken through 104 orbits of the telescope, capturing over 3,000 stars down to the 23rd
[31]
magnitude, including infant brown dwarfs and possible brown dwarf binary stars. A
year later, scientists working with the HST announced the first ever masses of a pair of
eclipsing binary brown dwarfs, 2MASS J05352184–0546085. The pair are located in the
Orion Nebula and have approximate masses of 0.054 M ☉ and 0.034 M ☉
respectively, with an orbital period of 9.8 days. Surprisingly, the more massive of the two
[32]
also turned out to be the less luminous.

In October 2023, astronomers, based on observations of the Orion Nebula with the
James Webb Space Telescope, reported the discovery of pairs of rogue planets, similar
in mass to the planet Jupiter, and called JuMBOs (short for Jupiter Mass Binary
[33]
Objects).

Structure[edit]

The entirety of the Orion Nebula extends across a 1° region of the sky, and includes
neutral clouds of gas and dust, associations of stars, ionized volumes of gas, and
reflection nebulae.

The Nebula is part of a much larger nebula that is known as the Orion molecular cloud
complex. The Orion molecular cloud complex extends throughout the constellation of
Orion and includes Barnard's Loop, the Horsehead Nebula, M43, M78, and the Flame
Nebula. Stars are forming throughout the entire Cloud Complex, but most of the young
 [34]
stars are concentrated in dense clusters like the one illuminating the Orion Nebula.
[35]]

The current astronomical model for the nebula consists of an ionized (H II) region,
1
roughly centered on Theta Orionis C, which lies on the side of an elongated molecular
[37] 1
cloud in a cavity formed by the massive young stars. (Theta Orionis C emits 3-4
2
times as much photoionizing light as the next brightest star, Theta Orionis A.) The H II
region has a temperature ranging up to 10,000 K, but this temperature falls dramatically
[38]
near the edge of the nebula. The nebulous emission comes primarily from
[39]
photoionized gas on the back surface of the cavity. The H II region is surrounded by
an irregular, concave bay of more neutral, high-density cloud, with clumps of neutral gas
lying outside the bay area. This in turn lies on the perimeter of the Orion Molecular
Cloud. The gas in the molecular cloud displays a range of velocities and turbulence,
particularly around the core region. Relative movements are up to 10 km/s (22,000
[38]
mi/h), with local variations of up to 50 km/s and possibly more.

Observers have given names to various features in the Orion Nebula. The dark bay that
[40]
extends from the north into the bright region is known as "Sinus Magnus", also called
the "Fish's Mouth". The illuminated regions to both sides are called the "Wings". Other
[41]
features include "The Sword", "The Thrust", and "The Sail".

Star formation[edit]
The Orion Nebula is an example of a stellar nursery where new stars are being born.
Observations of the nebula have revealed approximately 700 stars in various stages of
formation within the nebula.

In 1979 observations with the Lallemand electronic camera at the Pic-du-Midi

Observatory showed six unresolved high-ionization sources near the Trapezium Cluster.
These sources were interpreted as partly ionized globules (PIGs). The idea was that
[42]
these objects are being ionized from the outside by M42. Later observations with the
Very Large Array showed solar-system-sized condensations associated with these
sources. Here the idea appeared that these objects might be low-mass stars
[43]
surrounded by an evaporating protostellar accretion disk. In 1993 observations with
the Hubble Space Telescope have yielded the major confirmation of protoplanetary
[44][45]
disks within the Orion Nebula, which have been dubbed proplyds. HST has
revealed more than 150 of these within the nebula, and they are considered to be
systems in the earliest stages of solar system formation. The sheer numbers of them
have been used as evidence that the formation of planetary systems is fairly common in
the universe.

Stars form when clumps of hydrogen and other gases in an H II region contract under
their own gravity. As the gas collapses, the central clump grows stronger and the gas
heats to extreme temperatures by converting gravitational potential energy to thermal
energy. If the temperature gets high enough, nuclear fusion will ignite and form a
protostar. The protostar is 'born' when it begins to emit enough radiative energy to
balance out its gravity and halt gravitational collapse.

Typically, a cloud of material remains a substantial distance from the star before the
fusion reaction ignites. This remnant cloud is the protostar's protoplanetary disk, where
planets may form. Recent infrared observations show that dust grains in these
protoplanetary disks are growing, beginning on the path towards forming
[46]
planetesimals.

Once the protostar enters into its main sequence phase, it is classified as a star. Even
though most planetary disks can form planets, observations show that intense stellar
radiation should have destroyed any proplyds that formed near the Trapezium group, if
[30]
the group is as old as the low mass stars in the cluster. Since proplyds are found
very close to the Trapezium group, it can be argued that those stars are much younger
[c]
than the rest of the cluster members.

Stellar wind and effects[edit]

Once formed, the stars within the nebula emit a stream of charged particles known as a
stellar wind. Massive stars and young stars have much stronger stellar winds than the
[47]
Sun. The wind forms shock waves or hydrodynamical instabilities when it encounters
the gas in the nebula, which then shapes the gas clouds. The shock waves from stellar
wind also play a large part in stellar formation by compacting the gas clouds, creating
density inhomogeneities that lead to gravitational collapse of the cloud.

There are three different kinds of shocks in the Orion Nebula. Many are featured in
[48]
Herbig–Haro objects:

●​ Bow shocks are stationary and are formed when two particle streams collide
with each other. They are present near the hottest stars in the nebula where
the stellar wind speed is estimated to be thousands of kilometers per second
and in the outer parts of the nebula where the speeds are tens of kilometers
per second. Bow shocks can also form at the front end of stellar jets when the
jet hits interstellar particles.
●​ Jet-driven shocks are formed from jets of material sprouting off newborn T
Tauri stars. These narrow streams are traveling at hundreds of kilometers per
second, and become shocks when they encounter relatively stationary gases.
●​ Warped shocks appear bow-like to an observer. They are produced when a
jet-driven shock encounters gas moving in a cross-current.
●​ The interaction of the stellar wind with the surrounding cloud also forms
"waves" which are believed to be due to the hydrodynamical Kelvin-Helmholtz
[49]
instability.
The dynamic gas motions in M42 are complex, but are trending out through the opening
[38]
in the bay and toward the Earth. The large neutral area behind the ionized region is
currently contracting under its own gravity.

There are also supersonic "bullets" of gas piercing the hydrogen clouds of the Orion
Nebula. Each bullet is ten times the diameter of Pluto's orbit and tipped with iron atoms
glowing in the infrared. They were probably formed one thousand years earlier from an
[50]
unknown violent event.

Evolution[edit]
Interstellar clouds like the Orion Nebula are found throughout galaxies such as the Milky
Way. They begin as gravitationally bound blobs of cold, neutral hydrogen, intermixed
with traces of other elements. The cloud can contain hundreds of thousands of solar
masses and extend for hundreds of light years. The tiny force of gravity that could
compel the cloud to collapse is counterbalanced by the very faint pressure of the gas in
the cloud.

Whether due to collisions with a spiral arm, or through the shock wave emitted from
supernovae, the atoms are precipitated into heavier molecules and the result is a
molecular cloud. This presages the formation of stars within the cloud, usually thought
to be within a period of 10–30 million years, as regions pass the Jeans mass and the
destabilized volumes collapse into disks. The disk concentrates at the core to form a
star, which may be surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. This is the current stage of
evolution of the nebula, with additional stars still forming from the collapsing molecular
cloud. The youngest and brightest stars we now see in the Orion Nebula are thought to
[51]
be less than 300,000 years old, and the brightest may be only 10,000 years in age.
Some of these collapsing stars can be particularly massive, and can emit large
quantities of ionizing ultraviolet radiation. An example of this is seen with the Trapezium
cluster. Over time the ultraviolet light from the massive stars at the center of the nebula
will push away the surrounding gas and dust in a process called photo evaporation. This
process is responsible for creating the interior cavity of the nebula, allowing the stars at
[8]
the core to be viewed from Earth. The largest of these stars have short life spans and
will evolve to become supernovae.

Within about 100,000 years, most of the gas and dust will be ejected. The remains will
form a young open cluster, a cluster of bright, young stars surrounded by wispy
[52]
filaments from the former cloud.

See also[edit]
●​ Barnard's Loop
●​ Kleinmann–Low Nebula
●​ Flame Nebula (NGC 2024)
 ●​ Horsehead Nebula
●​ Hubble 3D (2010), an IMAX film with an elaborate CGI fly-through of the
Orion Nebula
●​ List of diffuse nebulae
●​ List of Messier objects
●​ Messier 43, which is part of the Orion Nebula
●​ Messier 78, a reflection nebula
●​ New General Catalogue
●​ Orion correlation theory
●​ Orion molecular cloud complex
●​ Orion OB1

Notes[edit]
^
1.​ 1,270 × tan( 66′ / 2 ) = 12 ly. radius
^
2.​ From temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere, the nebula appears below
the Belt of Orion; from temperate zones in the Southern Hemisphere the nebula
appears above the Belt.
3.​ ^ C. Robert O'Dell commented about this Wikipedia article, "The only egregious
error is the last sentence in the Stellar Formation section. It should actually read
'Even though most planetary disks can form planets, observations show that
intense stellar radiation should have destroyed any proplyds that formed near the
Trapezium group, if the group is as old as the low mass stars in the cluster. Since
proplyds are found very close to the Trapezium group, it can be argued that those
stars are much younger than the rest of the cluster members.'"

30 Doradus
The Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus) is a large H II region in the Large
Magellanic Cloud (LMC), forming its south-east corner (from Earth's perspective).

Discovery[edit]
The brilliant stars in the Tarantula Nebula unleash a torrent of ultraviolet light and stellar winds
that etch away at the hydrogen gas cloud in which the stars were born.

The Tarantula Nebula was observed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille during an expedition

to the Cape of Good Hope between 1751 and 1753. He catalogued it as the second of
the "Nebulae of the First Class", "Nebulosities not accompanied by any star visible in
[5]
the telescope of two feet". It was described as a diffuse nebula 20' across.

Johann Bode included the Tarantula in his 1801 Uranographia star atlas and listed it
in the accompanying Allgemeine Beschreibung und Nachweisung der Gestirne
catalogue as number 30 in the constellation "Xiphias or Dorado". Instead of being
[6]
given a stellar magnitude, it was noted to be nebulous.

The name Tarantula Nebula arose in the mid 20th century from its appearance in
[7]
deep photographic exposures.

[8][9]
30 Doradus has often been treated as the designation of a star, or of the central
[10]
star cluster NGC 2070, but is now generally treated as referring to the whole
[11][12]
nebula area of the Tarantula Nebula.

Properties[edit]
The Tarantula Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8. Considering its distance of
[2]
about 49 kpc (160,000 light-years), this is an extremely luminous non-stellar object.
Its luminosity is so great that if it were as close to Earth as the Orion Nebula, the
[13]
Tarantula Nebula would cast visible shadows. In fact, it is the most active starburst
region known in the Local Group of galaxies.

It is also one of the largest H II regions in the Local Group with an estimated diameter
[2][3]
around 200 to 570 pc (650 to 1860 light years), and also because of its very large
size, it is sometimes described as the largest, although other H II regions such as
[3]
NGC 604, which is in the Triangulum Galaxy, could be larger. The nebula resides on
the leading edge of the LMC where ram pressure stripping, and the compression of
the interstellar medium likely resulting from this, is at a maximum.

NGC 2070[edit]
30 Doradus has at its centre the star cluster NGC 2070 which includes the compact
[14]
concentration of stars known as R136 that produces most of the energy that
makes the nebula visible. The estimated mass of the cluster is 450,000 solar masses,
[15]
suggesting it will likely become a globular cluster in the future. In addition to NGC
2070, the Tarantula Nebula contains a number of other star clusters including the
much older Hodge 301. The most massive stars of Hodge 301 have already exploded
[16]
in supernovae.
Supernova 1987A[edit]
[17]
The closest supernova observed since the invention of the telescope, Supernova
[18]
1987A, occurred in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula. There is a prominent
supernova remnant enclosing the open cluster NGC 2060, but the remnants of many
[19]
other supernovae are difficult to detect in the complex nebulosity.

Black hole VFTS 243[edit]

An x-ray quiet black hole was discovered in the Tarantula Nebula, the first outside of
the Milky Way Galaxy that does not radiate strongly. The black hole has a mass of at
least 9 solar masses and is in a circular orbit with its 25 solar mass blue giant
[20]
companion VFTS 243.
HD 80606b
HD 80606 b (also Struve 1341 Bb or HIP 45982 b) is an eccentric hot Jupiter 217
light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Ursa Major. HD 80606 b was
discovered orbiting the star HD 80606 in April 2001 by a team led by Michel Mayor
[2]
and Didier Queloz. With a mass 4 times that of Jupiter, it is a gas giant. Because
the planet transits the host star its radius can be determined using the transit method,
and was found to be about the same as Jupiter's. Its density is slightly less than
[6]
Earth's. It has an extremely eccentric orbit like a comet, with its orbit taking it very
[7]
close to its star and then back out very far away from it every 111 days.

Discovery[edit]
The variable radial velocity of HD 80606 was first noticed in 1999 from observations
with the 10-m Keck 1 telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii by the
G-Dwarf Planet Search, a survey of nearly 1000 nearby G dwarfs to identify extrasolar
planet candidates. The star was then followed up by the Geneva Extrasolar Planet
Search team using the ELODIE spectrograph mounted on the 1.93-m telescope at the
Haute-Provence Observatory. The discovery of HD 80606 b was announced on 4
[2][1]
April 2001.

The transit was detected using a Celestron 35-cm Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope at

[6]
the UCL Observatory. Prior to the large data release of the Kepler Mission in
February 2011, HD 80606 b had the longest orbital period of any known transiting
planet. It takes 12.1 hours to transit its star.

The transit of 14 January 2010 was partially observed by MOST; but there were
equipment failures over part of this time, and the 8 January secondary transit was
[8] [9]
entirely lost. The midpoint of the next transit was 1 February 2013 11:37 UT.

Physical properties[edit]
HD 80606 b – animation (01:28) (28 March 2016).

HD 80606 b has the most eccentric orbit of any known planet after HD 20782 b. Its
eccentricity is 0.9336, comparable to Halley's Comet. The eccentricity may be a result
of the Kozai mechanism, which would occur if the planet's orbit is significantly inclined
to that of the binary stars. This interpretation is supported by measurements of the
 Rossiter–McLaughlin effect, which indicate that the planet's orbit may be significantly
[10][11]
inclined (by 42±8°) to the rotational axis of the star, a configuration which would
[4]
be expected if the Kozai mechanism were responsible for the orbit.

As a result of this high eccentricity, the planet's distance from its star varies from 0.03
to 0.88 AU. At apastron it would receive an insolation similar to that of Earth, while at
periastron the insolation would be around 800 times greater, far more than that
experienced by Mercury in the Solar System. In 2009, the eclipse of HD 80606 b by
its parent star was detected, allowing measurements of the planet's temperature to be
made as the planet passed through periastron. These measurements indicated that
the temperature rose from around 800 K (500 °C / 1000 °F) to 1500 K (1200 °C / 2200
[12]
°F) in just 6 hours.

An observer above the cloud tops of the gas giant would see the parent star swell to
[13]
30 times the apparent size of the Sun in our own sky.

The planet's rotation period has been measured to be 93+85​

−35 hours, longer than the predicted pseudo-synchronous rotation period of 40
[5]
hours.

Weather[edit]
The planet has wild variations in its weather as it orbits its parent star. Computer
models predict the planet heats up 555 K (1,000 °F) in just a matter of hours,
triggering "shock wave storms" that ripple out from the point facing its star, with winds
[12][14]
that move at around 5 kilometres per second (3.1 mi/s; 11,000 mph).

WASP-17b
WASP-17b, officially named Ditsö̀ , is an exoplanet in the constellation Scorpius that is
[1]
orbiting the star WASP-17. Its discovery was announced on 11 August 2009. It is the
first planet discovered to have a retrograde orbit, meaning it orbits in a direction counter
[1]
to the rotation of its host star. This discovery challenged traditional planetary formation
[4]
theory. In terms of diameter, WASP-17b is one of the largest exoplanets discovered
[5]
and at half Jupiter's mass, this made it the most puffy planet known in 2010. On 3
December 2013, scientists working with the Hubble Space Telescope reported detecting
[6][7]
water in the exoplanet's atmosphere.

WASP-17b's name was selected in the NameExoWorlds campaign by Costa Rica,

during the 100th anniversary of the International Astronomical Union. Ditsö̀ is the name
[8][9]
that the god Sibö̀ gave to the first Bribri people in Talamancan mythology.

Discovery[edit]
A team of researchers led by David Anderson of Keele University in Staffordshire,
England, discovered the gas giant, which is about 1,000 light-years (310 parsecs) from
Earth, by observing it transiting its host star WASP-17. Such photometric observations
also reveal the planet's size. The discovery was made with a telescope array at the
South African Astronomical Observatory. Due to the involvement of the Wide Angle
Search for Planets SuperWASP consortium of universities, the exoplanet, as the 17th
[10]
found to date by this group, was given its present name.

Astronomers at the Observatory of Geneva were then able to use characteristic

redshifts and blueshifts in the host star's spectrum as its radial velocity varied over the
course of the planet's orbit to measure the planet's mass and obtain an indication of its
[1]
orbital eccentricity. Careful examination of the Doppler shifts during transits also
allowed them to determine the direction of the planet's orbital motion relative to its
[1]
parent star's rotation via the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect.

Orbit[edit]
WASP-17b is thought to have a retrograde orbit (with a sky-projected inclination of the
[11]
orbit normal against the stellar spin axis of about 149°, not to be confused with the
line-of-sight inclination of the orbit, given in the table, which is near 90° for all transiting
planets), which would make it the first planet discovered to have such an orbital motion.
It was found by measuring the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect of the planet on the star's
Doppler signal as it transited, in which whichever of the star's hemispheres is turning
toward or away from Earth will show a slight blueshift or redshift which is dampened by
the transiting planet. Scientists are not yet sure why the planet orbits opposite to the
star's rotation. Theories include a gravitational slingshot resulting from a near-collision
with another planet, or the intervention of a smaller planet-like body working to gradually
[12]
change WASP-17b's orbit by tilting it via the Kozai mechanism. Spin-orbit angle
measurement was updated in 2012 to −148.7+7.7​
[13]
−6.7°.

Physical properties[edit]

Size comparison of Jupiter with Ditsö̀

WASP-17b has a radius between 1.5 and 2 times that of Jupiter and about half the
[1] 3 [1]
mass. Thus its mean density is between 0.08 and 0.19 g/cm , compared with
3[14] 3 3
Jupiter's 1.326 g/cm and Earth's 5.515 g/cm (the density of water is 1 g/cm ). The
unusually low density is thought to be a consequence of a combination of the planet's
orbital eccentricity and its proximity to its parent star (less than one seventh of the
distance between Mercury and the Sun), leading to tidal flexing and heating of its
[1]
interior. The same mechanism is behind the intense volcanic activity of Jupiter's moon
Io. WASP-39b has a similarly low estimated density.

[3]
Exoplanetary sodium in the atmosphere of the WASP-17 has been detected in 2018,
but was not confirmed by 2021. Instead, the spectral signatures of water, aluminium
[15]
oxide (AlO) and titanium hydride (TiH) were detected. The water signature was
[16]
confirmed in 2022, together with carbon dioxide absorption. In 2023, evidence of
clouds made of quartz was detected on the planet by the James Webb Space
[17][18]
Telescope.
 Comparison of "hot Jupiter" exoplanets (artist concept)

From top left to lower right: WASP-12b, WASP-6b, WASP-31b, WASP-39b, HD 189733 b,
HAT-P-12b, WASP-17b, WASP-19b, HAT-P-1b and HD 209458 b

This is a transmission spectrum of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-17 b captured by Webb's
Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on 12–13 March 2023. It reveals the first evidence for quartz
[19]
(crystalline silica, SiO2) in the clouds of an exoplanet.

WASP-121b
 [2] [5][6]
WASP-121b, formally named Tylos, is an exoplanet orbiting the star WASP-121.
WASP-121b is the first exoplanet found to contain water in an extrasolar planetary
stratosphere (i.e., an atmospheric layer in which temperatures increase as the altitude
[5][6] [7]
increases). WASP-121b is in the constellation Puppis, and is about 858
[8][5][9]
light-years from Earth.

Nomenclature[edit]
In August 2022, this planet and its host star were included among 20 systems to be
[10]
named by the third NameExoWorlds project. The approved names, proposed by a
team from Bahrain, were announced in June 2023. WASP-121b is named Tylos after
the ancient Greek name for Bahrain, and its host star is named Dilmun after the ancient
[2]
civilization.

Characteristics[edit]

WASP-121b - computer simulated views (August 2018)

WASP-121b is a hot Jupiter exoplanet with a mass about 1.16 times that of Jupiter and
a radius about 1.75 times that of Jupiter. The exoplanet orbits WASP-121, its host star,
[3]
every 1.27 days.

In 2019 a work by Hellard et al. discussed the possibility of measuring the Love number
of transiting hot Jupiters using HST/STIS. A tentative measurement of

h2=1.4±0.8
[11][12]
for WASP-121b was published in the same work.

[13]
The planetary orbit is inclined to the equatorial plane of the star by 8.1°.

Atmospheric composition[edit]
 [5]
A spectral survey in 2015 attributed 2,500 °C (4,530 °F), hot stratosphere absorption
[14]
bands to water molecules, titanium(II) oxide (TiO) and vanadium(II) oxide (VO).
[15][16]
Neutral iron was also detected in the stratosphere of WASP-121b in 2020, along
[17]
with neutral chromium and vanadium. The detection claims of titanium(II) oxide (TiO)
[6][18][19][20]
and vanadium(II) oxide (VO) have since been disproved.

Reanalysis of aggregated spectral data was published in June 2020. Neutral

magnesium, calcium, vanadium, chromium, iron, and nickel, along with ionized sodium
atoms, were detected. The low quality of available data preclude a positive identification
of any molecular species, including water. The atmosphere appears to be significantly
[21]
out of chemical equilibrium and possibly escaping. The strong atmospheric flows
beyond the Roche lobe, indicating ongoing atmosphere loss, were confirmed in late
[13]
2020.

In 2021, the planetary atmosphere turned out to be slightly more blue and less
[22]
absorbing, which may be an indication of planetary weather patterns. By mid-2021,
the presence of ions of iron, chromium, vanadium and calcium in the planetary
[23] [24]
atmosphere was confirmed. In 2022, barium was also detected. By 2022, an
absence of titanium in the planetary atmosphere was confirmed and attributed to the
[25]
nightside condensation of highly refractory titanium dioxide.

Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope from 2016-2019, published in 2024,

[26][27]
confirm variability in the atmosphere of WASP-121b.

Possible exomoon[edit]
[21]
The sodium detected via absorption spectroscopy around WASP-121b is consistent
[28]
with an extrasolar gas torus, possibly fueled by a hidden exo-Io.

LTT 9779b
The discovery of the exoplanet LTT 9779 b using TESS was published in 2020. It is an
ultra-hot Neptune with about 29 times the mass and 4.7 times the radius of Earth and
an orbital period of less than a day. These parameters make it one of the very few
 [3]
known planets in the Neptunian desert. Observations using the Spitzer Space
Telescope have measured the planet's dayside temperature at 2,305 K (2,032 °C; 3,689
[7][8]
°F), and observations by CHEOPS have shown the planet to be highly reflective,
[9][10]
with an albedo of 80%.

A study published in 2019, prior to the confirmation of LTT 9779 b, proposed a second
candidate planet in the system based on transit timing variations, but this has not been
confirmed,[11] and the study that confirmed LTT 9779 b found no evidence of transit
timing variations.[3]: 23

LTT 9779 b is a Neptune-like exoplanet that orbits a G-type star. Its mass is 29.32 Earths, it takes 0.8 days to
complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.01679 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2020.

GJ 1214b
[6] [2]
GJ 1214 b (sometimes Gliese 1214 b, also named Enaiposha since 2023 ) is an
exoplanet that orbits the star GJ 1214, and was discovered in December 2009. Its
parent star is 48 light-years from the Sun, in the constellation Ophiuchus. As of 2017,
[1][7]
GJ 1214 b is the most likely known candidate for being an ocean planet. For that
[8]
reason, scientists often call the planet a "waterworld". However, a recent study of the
planet's internal structure informed by observations taken with the James Webb Space
Telescope suggests that a "waterworld" composition is implausible, with the planet
being more likely to host a thick gaseous envelope consisting of hydrogen, helium,
[9]
water and other volatile species such as methane or carbon dioxide.

It is a super-Earth, meaning it is larger than Earth but is significantly smaller (in mass
and radius) than the gas giants of the Solar System. After CoRoT-7b, it was the second
[1]
super-Earth to have both its mass and radius measured and is the first of a new class
[10]
of planets with small size and relatively low density. GJ 1214 b is also significant
because its parent star is relatively near the Sun and because it transits that parent star,
[1]
which allows the planet's atmosphere to be studied using spectroscopic methods.

In December 2013, NASA reported that clouds may have been detected in the
[11][12][13][14]
atmosphere of GJ 1214 b.
Name[edit]
In August 2022, this planet and its host star were included among 20 systems to be
[15]
named by the third NameExoWorlds project. The approved names, proposed by a
team from Kenya, were announced in June 2023. GJ 1214 b is named Enaiposha and
its host star is named Orkaria, after the Maa words for a large body of water and for red
[2]
ochre, alluding to the likely composition of the planet and color of the star.

Physical characteristics[edit]
Mass, radius and temperature[edit]

[16]
Artist's impression of the planet with a hazy steam atmosphere

Artist's impression of GJ 1214 b (foreground), illuminated by the red light of its parent star
(center)
 This artist's impression shows how GJ 1214 b may look as it transits its parent star. It is the
second super-Earth for which astronomers have determined the mass and radius, giving vital
clues about its structure.

The radius of GJ 1214 b can be inferred from the amount of dimming seen when the
planet crosses in front of its parent star as viewed from Earth, yielding a radius of
2.742+0.050​
[3]
−0.053R🜨. The mass of the planet can be inferred from sensitive observations of the
parent star's radial velocity, measured through small shifts in stellar spectral lines due to
[1] [3]
the Doppler effect, yielding a mass of 8.17±0.43 M🜨. Given the planet's mass and
radius, its density can be calculated. Through a comparison with theoretical models, the
density in turn provides limited but highly useful information about the composition and
[1]
structure of the planet.

GJ 1214 b may be cooler than any other known transiting planet prior to the discovery
of Kepler-16b in 2011 by the Kepler mission. Its equilibrium temperature is believed to
be in the range of 393–555 K (120–282 °C; 248–539 °F), depending on how much of
[1][17]
the star's radiation is reflected into space.

Atmosphere[edit]

Due to the relatively small size of GJ 1214 b's parent star, it is feasible to perform
spectroscopic observations during planetary transits. By comparing the observed
spectrum before and during transits, the spectrum of the planetary atmosphere can be
inferred. In December 2010, a study was published showing the spectrum to be largely
featureless over the wavelength range of 750–1000 nm. Because a thick and cloud-free
hydrogen-rich atmosphere would have produced detectable spectral features, such an
atmosphere appears to be ruled out. Although no clear signs were observed of water
vapor or any other molecule, the authors of the study believe the planet may have an
atmosphere composed mainly of water vapor. Another possibility is that there may be a
[18]
thick layer of high clouds, which absorbs the starlight. Because of the estimated old
age of the planetary system and the calculated hydrodynamic escape (loss of gasses
that tends to deplete an atmosphere of higher molecular-weight constituents) rate of
900 tonnes per second, scientists conclude that there has been a significant
atmospheric loss during the lifetime of the planet and any current atmosphere cannot be
[1]
primordial. The loss of primordial atmosphere was indirectly confirmed in 2020 as no
[19]
helium was detected at GJ 1214 b. Helium was tentatively detected in the
[20]
atmosphere of GJ 1214 b by 2022 though.

Possible compositions[edit]

While very little is known about GJ 1214 b, there has been speculation as to its specific
[21]
nature and composition. On the basis of planetary models it has been suggested that
[10]
GJ 1214 b has a relatively thick gaseous envelope, totaling about 5% of planetary
[3]
mass. It is possible to propose structures by assuming different compositions, guided
[10]
by scenarios for the formation and evolution of the planet. GJ 1214 b could be a
rocky planet with an outgassed hydrogen-rich atmosphere, a mini-Neptune, or an ocean
[10]
planet. If it is a waterworld, it could possibly be thought of as a bigger and hotter
[10]
version of Jupiter's Galilean moon Europa. While no scientist has stated to believe
[21]
GJ 1214 b is an ocean planet, if GJ 1214 b is assumed to be an ocean planet, i.e.
the interior is assumed to be composed primarily of a water core surrounded by more
water, proportions of the total mass consistent with the mass and radius are about 25%
rock and 75% water, covered by a thick envelope of gases such as hydrogen and
[1][17]
helium (c. 0.05%). Water planets could result from inward planetary migration and
originate as protoplanets that formed from volatile ice-rich material beyond the
snow-line but that never attained masses sufficient to accrete large amounts of H/He
[10]
nebular gas. Because of the varying pressure at depth, models of a water world
[10]
include "steam, liquid, superfluid, high-pressure ices, and plasma phases" of water.
[17]
Some of the solid-phase water could be in the form of ice VII.

Discovery[edit]
GJ 1214 b was first detected by the MEarth Project, which searches for the small drops
in brightness that can occur when an orbiting planet briefly passes in front of its parent
star. In early 2009, the astronomers running the project noticed that the star GJ 1214
appeared to show drops in brightness of that sort. They then observed the star more
closely and confirmed that it dimmed by roughly 1.5% every 1.58 days. Follow-up
radial-velocity measurements were then made with the HARPS spectrograph on the
ESO's 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla, Chile; those measurements succeeded in
providing independent evidence for the reality of the planet. A paper was then published
in Nature announcing the planet and giving estimates of its mass, radius, and orbital
[1]
parameters.

K2-18b
K2-18b, also known as EPIC 201912552 b, is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf
K2-18, located 124 light-years (38 pc) away from Earth. The planet is a sub-Neptune
about 2.6 times the radius of Earth, with a 33-day orbit within the star's habitable zone.
This means it receives about a similar amount of starlight as the Earth receives from the
Sun. Initially discovered with the Kepler space telescope, it was later observed by the
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in order to study the planet's atmosphere.

In 2019 the presence of water vapour in K2-18b's atmosphere was reported, drawing
attention to this system. In 2023, the JWST detected carbon dioxide and methane in the
atmosphere of K2-18b. JWST’s data has been variously interpreted as indicating a
water ocean planet with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, and a gas-rich mini-Neptune.
K2-18b has been studied as a potential habitable world that, temperature aside, more
closely resembles a gas planet like Uranus or Neptune than Earth.

Host star[edit]
Main article: K2-18
[4] [5]
K2-18 is an M dwarf of the spectral class M3V in the constellation Leo, 38.025 ±
[1]
0.079 parsecs (124.02 ± 0.26 ly) away from the Sun. The star is colder and smaller
than the Sun, having a temperature of 3,457 K (3,184 °C; 5,763 °F) and a radius 45% of
[6] [7] [8]
the Sun's, and is not visible to the naked eye. The star is 2.4 ± 0.6 billion years old
[9]
and displays moderate stellar activity, but whether it has star spots, which would tend
[a] [11] [11][9]
to create false signals when a planet crosses them, is unclear. K2-18 has an
[12]
additional planet inside of K2-18b's orbit, K2-18c, which may interact with K2-18b
[b][14]
through tides.
It is estimated that up to 80% of all M dwarf stars have planets in their habitable
[6]
zones, including the stars LHS 1140, Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1. The small
mass, size and low temperatures of these stars and frequent orbits of the planets make
it easier to characterize the planets. On the other hand, the low luminosity of the stars
[15][6]
can make spectroscopic analysis of planets difficult, and the stars are frequently
active with flares and inhomogeneous stellar surfaces (faculae and starspots), which
[10]
can produce erroneous spectral signals when investigating a planet.

Physical properties[edit]
K2-18b has a radius of 2.610±0.087 R 🜨, a mass of 8.63±1.35 M E, and orbits its star
[6] [16]
in 33 days. From Earth, it can be seen passing in front of the star. The planet is
most likely tidally locked to the star, although considering its orbital eccentricity, a
[17]
spin-orbit resonance like Mercury is also possible.

The density of K2-18b is about 2.67+0.52​

3
−0.47 g/cm – intermediate between Earth and Neptune – implying that the planet has a
[c][15]
hydrogen-rich envelope. The planet may either be rocky with a thick envelope or
[d][19][20]
have a Neptune-like composition. A pure water planet with a thin atmosphere is
[21]
less likely. Planets with radii of about 1.5–2 R🜨 are unexpectedly rare relative to their
expected occurrence rate, a phenomenon known as the radius valley. Presumably,
planets with intermediary radii cannot hold their atmospheres against the tendency of
[22]
their own energy output and the stellar radiation to drive atmospheric escape.
Planets with even smaller radii are known as Super-Earths and those with larger radii as
[23]
Sub-Neptunes.

[24][25]
The planet may have taken a few million years to form. Tidal heating is
[12]
unlikely. Internal heating may increase temperatures at large depths, but is unlikely
[25]
to significantly affect the surface temperature. If an ocean exists, it is probably
[26]
underlaid by a high-pressure ice layer on top of a rocky core, which might destabilize
[27]
the planet's climate by preventing material flows between the core and the ocean.

Possible ocean[edit]
At temperatures exceeding the critical point, liquids and gases stop being different
[28]
phases and there is no longer a separation between an ocean and the atmosphere.
[2]
It is unclear whether observations imply that a separate liquid ocean exists on K2-18b,
[29]
and detecting such an ocean is difficult from the outside; its existence cannot be
[30]
inferred or ruled out solely from the mass and radius of a planet.

[31]
The existence of a liquid water ocean is uncertain. Before the James Webb Space
Telescope observations, a supercritical state of the water was believed to be more
[32]
likely. JWST observations were initially considered to be more consistent with a
[33]
fluid-gas interface and thus a liquid ocean - trace gases such as hydrocarbons and
ammonia can be lost from an atmosphere to an ocean if it exists; their presence may
[34]
thus imply the absence of an ocean-atmosphere separation. Subsequent work finds
that a magma ocean may also capable of dissolving ammonia and explaining the
[35] [36]
observation results, but not to explain the observed carbon oxide concentrations.
Whether the carbon oxide concentrations can be explained by a mini-Neptune/deep
[37][38]
hydrogen atmosphere model is uncertain. Another paper suggests that a liquid
water ocean model requires the presence of a biosphere in order to produce sufficient
[37]
amount of methane.

Atmosphere and climate[edit]

Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have found that K2-18b has an
[39] [40]
atmosphere consisting of hydrogen. The presence of water vapour is likely but
[41]
with uncertainty, as James Webb Space Telescope observations indicating
[42]
concentrations of less than 0.1%; this may be due to the JWST seeing a dry
[33] [38]
stratosphere as the atmosphere is thought to have an efficient cold trap. Ammonia
[e][39]
concentrations appear to be unmeasurably low. JWST observations indicate that
[45][46]
methane and carbon dioxide each make up about 1% of the atmosphere. Other
[47]
carbon oxides were not reported; only an upper limit to their concentrations (a few
[48]
percent) has been established. The atmosphere makes up at most 6.2% of the
[19]
planet's mass, and its composition probably resembles that of Uranus and
[49]
Neptune.
 [50]
There is little evidence of hazes in the atmosphere, while evidence for water clouds,
[51] [52]
the only kind of clouds likely to form at K2-18b, is conflicting. If they exist, the
[53]
clouds are most likely icy but liquid water is possible. Apart from water, ammonium
chloride, sodium sulfide, potassium chloride and zinc sulfide could form clouds in the
[54]
atmosphere of K2-18b, depending on the planet's properties. Most computer models
expect that a temperature inversion will form at high elevation, yielding a
[55]
stratosphere.

Evolution[edit]
[f]
High-energy radiation from the star, such as hard UV radiation and X-rays, is expected
to heat the upper atmosphere and fill it with hydrogen formed through the
[58]
photodissociation of water, thus forming an extended hydrogen-rich exosphere that
[8]
can escape from the planet. The X-ray and UV fluxes that K2-18b receives from
[8]
K2-18 are considerably higher than the equivalent fluxes from the Sun; the hard UV
radiation flux provides enough energy to drive this exosphere to escape at a rate of
about 350+400​
[59]
−290tons per second, too slow to remove the planet's atmosphere during its lifespan.
Observations of decreases of Lyman alpha radiation emissions during transits of the
planet may show the presence of such an exosphere; this discovery requires
[60]
confirmation.

Alternative scenarios[edit]

Detecting atmospheres around planets is difficult, and several reported findings are
[61]
controversial. Barclay et al. 2021 suggested that the water vapour signal may be due
[4]
to stellar activity, rather than water in K2-18b's atmosphere. Bézard et al. 2020
proposed that methane may be a more significant component, making up about 3–10%
[52]
while water may constitute about 5–11% of the atmosphere, and Bézard, Charnay
[62]
and Blain 2022 proposed that the evidence of water is actually due to methane,
[63]
although such a scenario is less probable.

Models[edit]

Climate models have been used to simulate the climate that K2-18b might have, and an
intercomparison of their results for K2-18b is part of the CAMEMBERT project to
 [64]
simulate the climates of sub-Neptune planets. Among the climate modelling efforts
made on K2-18b are:

●​ Charnay et al. 2021, assuming that the planet is tidally locked, found an
atmosphere with weak temperature gradients and a wind system with
descending air on the night side and ascending air on the day side. In the
upper atmosphere, radiation absorption by methane produced an inversion
[65]
layer. Clouds could only form if the atmosphere had a high metallicity; their
properties strongly depended on the size of cloud particles and the
composition and circulation of the atmosphere. They formed mainly at the
substellar point and the terminator. If there was rainfall, it could not reach the
[66]
surface; instead it evaporated to form virga. Simulations with a spin-orbit
[67]
resonance did not substantially alter the cloud distribution. They also
[68]
simulated the appearance of the atmosphere during stellar transits.
●​ Innes and Pierrehumbert 2022 conducted simulations assuming different
rotation rates and concluded that except for high rotation rates, there is not a
[69]
substantial temperature gradient between poles and equator. They found
the existence of jet streams above the equator and at high latitudes, with
[70]
weaker equatorial jets at the surface.
[51]
●​ Hu 2021 conducted simulations of the planet's chemistry. They concluded
that the photochemistry should not be able to completely remove ammonia
[71]
from the outer atmosphere and that carbon oxides and cyanide would form
[72]
in the middle atmosphere, where they could be detectable. The model
predicts that a sulfur haze layer could form, extending through and above the
water clouds. Such a haze layer would make investigations of the planet's
[73]
atmosphere much more difficult.
[74]
●​ Tsai et al. 2024 ran chemical and physical models. They found a prograde
jet stream in the troposphere and a retrograde one above 0.0001 bar altitude,
[75]
with thermally-driven circulation in-between the two. They found that for
dimethyl sulfide to be detectable, its production needs to exceed Earth's by a
[76] [77]
factor of 20, a rate not impossible for a plausible ecosystem. Several
[78]
hydrocarbons can mask the dimethyl sulfide signal.

Habitability[edit]
Incoming stellar radiation amounts to 1368+114​
2 [6]
−107 W/m , similar to the average insolation Earth receives. K2-18b is located within
[79] [80]
or just slightly inside the habitable zone of its star, – it may be close to but fall
[81]
short of the runaway greenhouse threshold – and its equilibrium temperature is about
[15]
250 K (−23 °C; −10 °F) to 300 K (27 °C; 80 °F). Whether the planet is actually
[32] [74]
habitable depends on the nature of the envelope and the albedo of clouds; the
[44]
deeper layers of the atmosphere may be too hot, while the water-containing layers
[27]
might or might not have temperatures and pressures suitable for the development of
[82]
life.

Microorganisms from Earth can survive in hydrogen-rich atmospheres, illustrating that

hydrogen is no impediment to life. However, a number of biosignature gases used to
identify the presence of life are not reliable indicators when found in a hydrogen-rich
atmosphere, thus different markers would be needed to identify biological activity at
[83]
K2-18b. According to Madhusudhan et al., several of these markers could be
detected by the James Webb Space Telescope after a reasonable number of
[84]
observations.

Discovery and research history[edit]

[85][86][87]
The planet was discovered in 2015 by the Kepler space telescope, and its
existence was later confirmed with the Spitzer Space Telescope and through Doppler
[58]
velocity techniques. Analyses of the transits ruled out that they were caused by
[87]
unseen companion stars, by multiple planets or systematic errors of the
[88]
observations. Early estimates of the star's radius had substantial errors, which led to
[89]
incorrect planet radius estimates and the density of the planet being overestimated.
The discovery of the spectroscopic signature of water vapour on K2-18b in 2019 was
[8]
the first discovery of water vapour on an exoplanet that is not a Hot Jupiter and drew
[29]
a lot of discussion.

[51]
K2-18b has been used as a test case for exoplanet studies. The properties of K2-18b
have led to the definition of a "hycean planet", a type of planet that has both abundant
liquid water and a hydrogen envelope. Planets with such compositions were previously
thought to be too hot to be habitable; findings at K2-18b instead suggest that they might
be cold enough to harbour liquid water oceans conducive to life. The strong greenhouse
effect of the hydrogen envelope might allow them to remain habitable even at low
[90] [91]
instellation rates. K2-18b is probably the best known "hycean planet". Other,
[92][74]
non-hycean compositions are possible, both habitable and uninhabitable.

K2-18b James Webb Space Telescope spectra from 2023. Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, J.
Olmstead, N. Madhusudhan

There is some evidence of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and methyl chloride being present in
the atmosphere. The presence of DMS is a potential biosignature, as the bulk of the
[93]
DMS in Earth's atmosphere is emitted from phytoplankton in marine environments,
although further observation to confirm the presence of DMS and rule out a geological
[94][95]
or chemical origin for the compound is required. Some scientists have voiced
concerns about the statistical significance of the DMS signal at K2-18b, and how its
[96]
putative detection might be understood in an environment different than Earth. In
2024, Wogan et al. suggested that the high methane concentrations might either imply
[97]
the presence of methanogenic life or upwards mixing of gases from the deep interior,
[98]
if the planet is too hot for life.

A podcast on the Planetary Society's website in January 2024 featured NASA

astrophysicist Knicole Colón describing some of the scientific results from the
observations of K2-18b by JWST. Data from JWST's MIRI instrument was expected to
be gathered in January 2024 about which Colón said: "MIRI will be able to see
additional features, absorption features from these molecules, and validate again, the
presence of what we've seen and even the abundance." Colón also talks about the lack
of evidence of water in the atmosphere: "The fact that the JWST data basically didn't
find strong evidence of water in the atmosphere, that could indicate a couple things".
TOI-270b
TOI-270, also known as L 231-32, is a red dwarf star 73.3 light-years (22.5 parsecs)
away in the constellation Pictor. It has about 39% the mass and 38% the radius of the
Sun, and a temperature of about 3,506 K (3,233 °C; 5,851 °F). TOI-270 hosts a system
of three known exoplanets.

Planetary system[edit]
The three planets of TOI-270 were discovered in 2019 by the transit method with
[4] [5]
TESS. Their masses have since been measured by both Doppler spectroscopy and
[6]
transit-timing variations. The innermost planet, TOI-270 b, is a rocky super-Earth,
[5]
while the two outer planets are mini-Neptunes. TOI-270 b & c orbit near a 5:3
[4]
resonance, while TOI-270 c & d orbit near a 2:1 resonance.

Observations of the outermost planet, TOI-270 d, by the Hubble Space Telescope

[7]
suggest a hydrogen-rich atmosphere with signs of water vapor. TOI-270 c & d are
[8]
good targets for atmospheric detection with the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope detected methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and
[9]
water vapor in the atmosphere of TOI-270 d. The atmosphere of this planet was also
found to be metal-rich, with a mean molecular weight of 5.47+1.25​
−1.14 and an atmospheric metal mass fraction (percentage of the mass of metals in the
atmosphere) of 58%+8%​
[9]
−12%. Possible signatures of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon disulfide (CS2) were also
[9]
found.

Compan Mass Semimaj Orbital Eccentri Inclinati Radius

ion or axis period city on

(in order (AU) (days)

from star)
 b 1.48±0.18 0.03197( 3.3601538( 0.0167(8 89.39±0. 1.206±0.039
M🜨 22) 48) 4) 37° R🜨

c 6.20±0.31 0.04526( 5.6605731( 0.0044(6) 89.36±0. 2.355±0.064

M🜨 31) 31) 24° R🜨

d 4.20±0.16 0.07210( 11.379573( 0.0066(2 89.73±0. 2.133±0.058

M🜨 50) 13) 0) 16° R🜨

LHS-3844b
[pronunciation?] [2]
LHS 3844 b, formally named Kua'kua , is an exoplanet orbiting the red
dwarf LHS 3844, about 48.5 light-years (14.9 parsecs) away in the constellation
[6]
Indus, discovered using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. It orbits its parent
[1]
star once every 11 hours, and its radius is 1.32 times that of Earth. It has a low
albedo, indicating that its surface may resemble that of the Moon or Mercury. LHS 3844
b probably does not have an atmosphere as almost no heat goes to its night side, and it
[5][7]
has a dayside temperature of 1,040 K (770 °C; 1,410 °F). The presence of cloudy
atmosphere with cloud tops above pressure level of 0.1 bar cannot be excluded
[8]
though.

In order to explain the lack of atmosphere, it has been proposed that the planet was
formed interior to the star system's snow-line, because if it formed beyond the snow-line
it would have carried volatiles, on the surface and in a thick atmosphere, that according
to models on atmospheric loss should have been enough to sustain an atmosphere to
[9]
the present. The planet probably also formed with a volatile-poor outgassing mantle,
in a stagnant lid regime, because if the mantle was similar in constitution to Earth's, with
plate tectonics, then it should still have a thick atmosphere, unless the red dwarf
consistently flared at an uncharacteristically extreme rate not yet considered in
[9]
atmospheric loss models. An alternative explanation for the lack of atmosphere could
be through a large impact event, one with enough momentum to strip the planet of its
 [9]
atmosphere and a large portion of its mantle. In order to explain the
non-replenishment of volatiles via comets back onto the planet, it is also proposed that
[9]
perhaps there is an outer gas giant in the star system.

It is thought that LHS 3844 b is tidally locked due to its surface being 'relatively cool',
although this hypothesis could possibly be complicated by the fact that the research into
the temperature of the planet assumed that there was no atmosphere, a point which is
[10]
not definitively confirmed.

Naming[edit]
In August 2022, this planet and its host star were included among 20 systems to be
[6]
named by the third NameExoWorlds project. The approved names, proposed by a
team from Costa Rica, were announced in June 2023. LHS 3844 b is named Kua'kua
and its host star is named Batsũ̀ , after the Bribri words for "butterfly" and
[2]
"hummingbird".

PSR B1257+12
PSR B1257+12, previously designated PSR 1257+12, alternatively designated PSR
[6]
J1300+1240, is a millisecond pulsar, 2,300 light-years (710 parsecs) from the Sun, in
the constellation Virgo, rotating at about 161 times per second (faster than the blade of
[1] [7][5]
a blender). It is also named Lich, after a powerful, fictional undead creature.

The pulsar has a planetary system with three known pulsar planets, named "Draugr"
(PSR B1257+12 b or PSR B1257+12 A), "Poltergeist" (PSR B1257+12 c, or PSR
B1257+12 B), and "Phobetor" (PSR B1257+12 d, or PSR B1257+12 C). They were both
the first extrasolar planets to be discovered and the first pulsar planets to be
discovered—B and C in 1992 and A in 1994. A is the lowest-mass planet yet discovered
by any observational technique, having somewhat less than twice the mass of Earth's
moon.

Nomenclature[edit]
The convention that arose for designating pulsars was that of using the letters PSR
(Pulsating Source of Radio) followed by the pulsar's right ascension and degrees of
declination. The modern convention prefixes the older numbers with a B meaning the
coordinates are for the 1950.0 epoch. All new pulsars have a J indicating 2000.0
coordinates and also have declination including minutes. Pulsars that were discovered
before 1993 tend to retain their B names rather than use their J names, but all pulsars
[8]
have a J name that provides more precise coordinates of its location in the sky.

On their discovery, the planets were designated PSR 1257+12 A, B, and C, ordered by
increasing distance. They were discovered before the convention that extrasolar planets
receive designations consisting of the star's name followed by lower-case Roman letters
[9]
starting from "b", in order of discovery, was established. However, they are listed
under the latter convention on astronomical databases such as SIMBAD and the
Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia, with A becoming b, B becoming c, and C becoming
d.

In July 2014, the International Astronomical Union launched NameExoWorlds, a

[10]
process for giving proper names to certain exoplanets and their host stars. The
[11]
process involved public nomination and voting for the new names. In December
2015, the IAU announced the winning names, submitted by the Planetarium Südtirol
Alto Adige in Karneid, Italy, were Lich for the pulsar and Draugr, Poltergeist, and
[7][12]
Phobetor for planets A, B, and C, respectively:

●​ A lich is an undead creature known for controlling other undead creatures

with magic.
●​ Draugr refers to undead creatures in Norse mythology.
●​ Poltergeist is a name for supernatural beings that create physical
disturbances, from the German for "noisy ghost".
●​ Phobetor is, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, one of the thousand sons of Somnus
[13]
(Sleep) who appears in dreams in the form of beasts.
[14]
In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and
standardize proper names for stars (including stellar remnants). In its first bulletin of July
[15]
2016, the WGSN explicitly recognized the names of exoplanets and their host stars
approved by the Executive Committee Working Group Public Naming of Planets and
Planetary Satellites, including the names of stars adopted during the 2015
NameExoWorlds campaign. This stellar remnant is now so entered in the IAU Catalog
[6]
of Star Names.

Pulsar[edit]
Discovery[edit]

PSR B1257+12 was discovered by the Polish astronomer Aleksander Wolszczan on 9

February 1990 using the Arecibo radio telescope. It is a millisecond pulsar, a kind of
neutron star, with a rotation period of 6.22 milliseconds (9,650 rpm), and was found to
have anomalies in the pulsation period, which led to investigations as to the cause of
the irregular pulses. In 1992, Wolszczan and Dale Frail published a famous paper on
the first confirmed discovery of planets outside the Solar System. Using refined
methods one more planet was found orbiting this pulsar in 1994.

Characteristics[edit]

The pulsar is estimated to have a mass of 1.4 M ☉, which is typical for most neutron
stars and pulsars. The radius is estimated to be around 10 kilometres or 6.2 miles
−5
(~1.5×10 R ☉), also common for pulsars and neutron stars. The pulsar is extremely
hot, with a surface temperature of up to around 28,856 K (28,583 °C; 51,481 °F). The
pulsar formed one to three billion years ago from a white dwarf merger, a pair of white
[16]
dwarfs colliding and collapsing to form a rapidly spinning pulsar.

The discovery stimulated a search for planets orbiting other pulsars, but it turned out
such planets are rare; only five other pulsar planets, orbiting PSR B1620−26, PSR
[citation needed]
B0943+10, PSR B0329+54, and PSR J1719−1438, have been confirmed.

Planetary system[edit]
Companion Mass Semimajor Orbital Eccentricity Inclination Radiu
axis period s
(in order from
star) (AU) (days)

A (b / 0.020 ± 0.19 25.262 0.0 ~50° —

Draugr) 0.002 ± 0.003
M🜨
 B (c / 4.3 ± 0.2 0.36 66.5419 0.0186 ± 53° —
Poltergeist M🜨 ± 0.0002
) 0.0001

C (d / 3.9 ± 0.2 0.46 98.2114 0.0252 ± 47° —

Phobetor) M🜨 ± 0.0002
0.0002

Planets[edit]

Artist's impression of the planets orbiting PSR B1257+12. The one in the foreground is planet
"C".

In 1992, Wolszczan and Frail discovered that the pulsar had two planets. These were
[17][18]
the first discovery of extrasolar planets to be confirmed; as pulsar planets, they
surprised many astronomers who expected to find planets only around main-sequence
stars. Additional uncertainty surrounded the system, because of a claim of an earlier
pulsar planet around PSR 1829-10 that had to be retracted due to errors in calculations.
In 1994, an additional planet was discovered. Additionally, this system may have an
asteroid belt or a Kuiper belt.

The planets are believed to be the result of a second round of planetary system
formation as a result of two white dwarfs merging with each other into a pulsar and a
[16]
resulting disk of material in orbit around the star. Other scenarios include unusual
[19]
supernova remnants or a quark-nova. However, the white dwarf–white dwarf merge
model seems to be the most likely cause of the formation of the planets.

Retracted claim of fourth orbital body[edit]

In 1996, a possible Saturn-like (100 Earth mass) gas giant was announced orbiting the
[20]
pulsar at a distance of about 40 AU (6.0 billion km; 3.7 billion mi). The original
hypothesis was retracted; a reinterpretation of the data led to a new hypothesis of a
dwarf planet one-fifth the size of Pluto orbiting PSR B1257+12. It would have an
average orbital distance of 2.4 AU (360 million km; 220 million mi) with an orbital period
[21][22][23][24]
of approximately 4.6 years. The dwarf planet hypothesis was also retracted
because further observations showed that the pulsation anomalies previously thought to
reveal a fourth orbital body are "not periodic and can be fully explained in terms of slow
[23]
changes in the pulsar's dispersion measure".

WD 1856+534
WD 1856+534 is a white dwarf located in the constellation of Draco. At a distance of
about 25 parsecs (80 ly) from Earth, it is the outer component of a visual triple star
system consisting of an inner pair of red dwarf stars, named G 229-20. The white dwarf
displays a featureless absorption spectrum, lacking strong optical absorption or
emission features in its atmosphere. It has an effective temperature of 4,700 K (4,430
[4]
°C; 8,000 °F), corresponding to an age of approximately 5.8 billion years. WD
1856+534 is approximately half as massive as the Sun, while its radius is much smaller,
[5]
being 40% larger than Earth.

Planetary system[edit]
The white dwarf is known to host one exoplanet, WD 1856+534 b, in orbit around it. The
exoplanet was detected through the transit method by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS) between July and August 2019. An analysis of the transit data in 2020
revealed that it is a Jupiter-like giant planet with a radius over ten times that of Earth's,
and orbits its host star closely at a distance of 0.02 astronomical units (AU), with an
orbital period 60 times shorter than that of Mercury around the Sun.

The unexpectedly close distance of the exoplanet to the white dwarf implies that it must
have migrated inward after its host star evolved from a red giant to a white dwarf,
[4]
otherwise it would have been engulfed by its star. This migration may be related to the
fact that WD 1856+534 belongs to a hierarchical triple-star system: the white dwarf and
its planet are gravitationally bound to a distant companion, G 229–20, which itself is a
[4]
binary system of two red dwarf stars. Gravitational interactions with the companion
stars may have triggered the planet's migration through the Lidov–Kozai
[6][7][8]
mechanism in a manner similar to some hot Jupiters. An alternative hypothesis is
[9]
that the planet instead has survived a common envelope phase. In the latter scenario,
other planets engulfed before may have contributed to the expulsion of the stellar
[10]
envelope. JWST observations seem to disfavour the formation via common envelope
[11]
and instead favour high eccentricity migration.

The planetary transmission spectrum obtained with GTC OSIRIS is gray and
[12]
featureless, likely because of the high level of hazes. The transmission spectrum
was also obtained with Gemini GMOS. It does not show any features beside a possible
dip at 0.55 μm. This feature could be caused be auroral emission at the nightside of the
planet. The research find a minimum mass of 0.84 M J by accounting for the transit
geometry of a grazing transit. The researchers also revised the white dwarf parameters
and found a total age of 8-10 billion years, in agreement with the system belonging to
[3]
the thin disk.

A search with transit timing variations found no additional planets. The search exclude
planets with a mass more than 2 M J with orbital periods as long as 500 days and
[13]
planets with >10 M J with orbital periods as long as 1000 days.

Comp Mass Semimaj Orbital period Eccent Inclinati Radius

anion or axis ricity on
(days)
(in (AU)
order
from
star)

b 2.4-13 0.0204±0 1.40793925±0.000 ~0 88.778±0 0.966+0.040

[12] .0012 [3] .059°
.8 00004 [3][nb 1]
−0.039
or
[ RJ
>0.84
3]
MJ
55 Cancri
[1]
55 Cancri is a binary star system located 41 light-years away from the Sun in the
1 1
zodiac constellation of Cancer. It has the Bayer designation Rho Cancri (ρ Cancri);
55 Cancri is the Flamsteed designation (abbreviated 55 Cnc). The system consists of a
[13]
K-type star (designated 55 Cancri A, also named Copernicus /koʊˈpɜːrnɪkəs/) and a
smaller red dwarf (55 Cancri B).

As of 2015, five extrasolar planets (designated 55 Cancri b, c, d, e and f; named

Galileo, Brahe, Lipperhey, Janssen and Harriot, respectively) are known to orbit 55
Cancri A.

Nomenclature[edit]
1
55 Cancri is the system's Flamsteed designation. It also bears the Bayer designation ρ
1
Cancri (Latinised to Rho Cancri) and the Bright Star Catalogue designation HR 3522.
[14]
The two components are designated A and B, though component A is sometimes
[15]
referred to simply as 55 Cancri. The first planet discovered orbiting 55 Cancri A was
[16]
designated HR 3522b by its discoverers, though it is more commonly referred to as
[17]
55 Cancri b. Under the rules for naming objects in binary star systems it should be
[18]
named 55 Cancri Ab and this more formal form is occasionally used to avoid
confusion with the secondary star 55 Cancri B. The other planets discovered were
designated 55 Cancri c, d, e and f, in order of their discovery.

In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched NameExoWorlds, a process

[19]
for giving proper names to certain exoplanets and their host stars. The process
[20]
involved public nomination and voting for the new names. In December 2015, the
IAU announced the winning names were Copernicus for 55 Cancri A and Galileo,
[21]
Brahe, Lipperhey, Janssen and Harriot for its planets (b, c, d, e and f, respectively).

The winning names were those submitted by the Royal Netherlands Association for
Meteorology and Astronomy of the Netherlands. They honor the astronomers Nicolaus
Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe and Thomas Harriot and the spectacle makers
 [22]
and telescope pioneers Hans Lipperhey and Jacharias Janssen. (The IAU originally
announced the winning name was Lippershey for 55 Cancri d. In January 2016, in
recognition that his actual name was Lipperhey (with Lippershey an error introduced in
the 19th century), the exoplanet name was corrected to Lipperhey by the IAU and that
name was submitted to the official sites that keep track of astronomical
[21][22]
information).

[23]
In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and
[24]
standardize proper names for stars. In its first bulletin of July 2016, the WGSN
explicitly recognized the names of exoplanets and their host stars approved by the
Executive Committee Working Group Public Naming of Planets and Planetary Satellites,
including the names of stars adopted during the 2015 NameExoWorlds campaign. This
[13]
star is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.

Stellar system[edit]
The 55 Cancri system is located fairly close to the Solar System: the Gaia astrometry
satellite measured the parallax of 55 Cancri A as 79.45 milliarcseconds, corresponding
[1]
to a distance of 12.6 parsecs (41 light-years). 55 Cancri A has an apparent magnitude
of 5.95, making it just visible to the naked eye under very dark skies. The red dwarf 55
Cancri B is of the 13th magnitude and only visible through a telescope. The two
[25]
components are separated by 85″, an estimated separation of 1,065 AU (6.15
light-days). Despite their wide separation, the two stars appear to be gravitationally
[15]
bound, as they share a common proper motion.

55 Cancri A[edit]

The primary star, 55 Cancri A, has a spectral type of K0IV-V, indicating a

main-sequence or subgiant star. It is smaller in radius and slightly less massive than the
Sun, and so is cooler and less luminous. The star has only low emission from its
[15]
chromosphere, and is not variable in the visible spectrum; but it is variable in
[26]
X-rays. It is more enriched than the Sun in elements heavier than helium, with 186%
the solar abundance of iron; it is therefore classified as a rare "super metal-rich" (SMR)
[15] [27]
star. 55 Cancri A also has more carbon than the Sun, with a C/O ratio of 0.78,
compared to solar value of 0.55. This abundance of metal makes estimating the star's
age and mass difficult, as evolutionary models are less well defined for such
 [citation needed]
stars. 55 Cancri A is much older than the solar system, and its age has
[28] [10]
been estimated to values of 7.4–8.7 billion years or 10.2 ± 2.5 billion years.

A hypothesis for the high metal content in SMR dwarf stars is that material enriched in
heavy elements fell into the atmosphere from a protoplanetary disk. This would pollute
the star's external layers, resulting in a higher than normal metallicity. The lack of a
deep convection zone would mean that the outer layers would retain higher abundance
[29]
ratios of these heavy elements.

Observations of 55 Cancri A in the submillimeter region of the spectrum have thus far
failed to detect any associated dust. The upper limit on emissions within 100 AU of this
star is about 850 mJy, at a wavelength of 850 μm. This limits the total mass of fine dust
around the star to less than 0.01% of the Earth's mass. However, this does not exclude
[30]
the presence of an asteroid belt or a Kuiper belt equivalent.

55 Cancri B[edit]

The secondary, 55 Cancri B, is a red dwarf star much less massive and luminous than
the Sun. There are indications that component B may itself be a double star, though this
[14]
is uncertain.

Planetary system[edit]
Compa Mass Semimaj Orbital period Eccentr Inclina Radi
nion or axis icity tion us
(days)
(in order (AU)
from
star)

e 7.99+0.32 0.01544 0.73654625±0.0000 0.05 ± 83.59+ 1.875

(Janss ± [33] 0.03 0.47 ±
0015
en) −0.33 M🜨 0.00005 0.029
−0.44°
R🜨
 b ≥0.8036+0.0 0.1134 ± 14.6516 ± 0.0001 0 ± 0.01 ~85° —
(Galileo 092 0.0006
)
−0.0091 MJ

c ≥51.2 ± 1.3 0.2373 ± 44.3989+0.0042 0.03 ± — —

(Brahe) M🜨 0.0013 0.02
−0.0043

f ≥47.8 ± 2.4 0.7708+0 259.88 ± 0.29 0.08+0. — —

(Harriot M🜨 .0043 05
)
−0.0044 −0.04

d ≥3.12 ± 0.10 5.957+0. 5,574.2+93.8 0.13 ± — —

(Lipper MJ 074 0.02
−88.6
hey)
−0.071

Comparison of the orbits of the inner planets of 55 Cancri A (black) with the planets of the Solar
System

The 55 Cancri system was the first known to have four, and later five, planets, and may
possibly have more. The innermost planet, e, transits 55 Cancri A as viewed from
[31]
Earth. The next planet, b, is non-transiting but there is tentative evidence that it is
[26]
surrounded by an extended atmosphere that does transit the star.
In 1997, the discovery of a 51 Pegasi-like planet orbiting 55 Cancri A was announced,
[16]
together with the planet of Tau Boötis and the inner planet of Upsilon Andromedae.
The planet was discovered by measuring the star's radial velocity, which showed a
periodicity of around 14.7 days corresponding to a planet at least 78% of the mass of
Jupiter. These radial velocity measurements still showed a drift unaccounted for by this
planet, which could be explained by the gravitational influence of a more distant object.

[34]
In 1998 the discovery of a possible dust disk around 55 Cancri A was announced.
Calculations gave the disk radius at least 40 AU, similar to the Kuiper belt in the Solar
System, with an inclination of 25° with respect to the plane of the sky. However, the
discovery could not be verified and was later deemed to be spurious, caused instead by
[35]
background galaxies.

The Solar System with only Earth and Jupiter compared with the planetary system of 55 Cancri
(Note: this depiction was made before planets e and f were discovered.)

After making further radial velocity measurements, a planet orbiting at a distance of

[15]
around 5 AU was announced in 2002. This planet received the designation 55 Cancri
d. At the time of discovery, the planet was thought to be in an orbit of mild eccentricity
(close to 0.1), but this value was increased by later measurements. Even after
accounting for these two planets, a periodicity at 43 days remained, possibly due to a
third planet. Measurements of the star suggested that this was close to the star's
rotation period, which raised the possibility that the 43-day signal was caused by stellar
activity. This possible planet received the designation 55 Cancri c.
 Artist's rendition of 55 Cnc's planets

[36]
55 Cancri e was announced in 2004. With 8.3 Earth masses, it is a large super-Earth
which was originally thought to have an orbital period of 2.8 days, though it was later
found that this was an alias of its true period of 0.74 of a day by observations of e
[31]
transiting in 2011. This planet was the first known instance of a fourth extrasolar
planet in one system, and was the shortest-period planet until the discovery of PSR
J1719−1438 b. The measurements that led to the discovery of this planet also
confirmed the existence of 55 Cancri c.

In 2005, Jack Wisdom combined three data sets and drew two distinct conclusions: that
the 2.8-day planet was an alias and that there was a Neptune-scale planet with a period
[37]
near 261 days. Fischer et al. (2008) reported new observations that they said
confirmed the existence of the 2.8-day planet, as first reported by McArthur et al.
[38]
(2004), and a 260-day Neptune-sized planet, as first reported by Wisdom (2005).
[32]
However, Dawson and Fabrycky (2010) concluded that the 2.8-day planet was
indeed an alias, as suggested by Wisdom (2005), and that the correct period was
0.7365 of a day.

In 2007, Fisher et al. confirmed the existence of the 260-day planet proposed in 2005 by
Wisdom. This planet, 55 Cancri f, was the first occurrence of a fifth extrasolar planet in
one system. With a similar mass to c, it has a 260-day orbit, towards the inner edge of
[39][40]
55 Cancri A's habitable zone. The planet itself is not thought to be conducive to
life, but hypothetical moons in principle could maintain at least water and life.

The planet e's eccentricity is poorly defined; varying values between 0 and 0.4 does not
significantly improve the fit, so an eccentricity of 0.2 was assumed. Taking interactions
between the planets into account results in a near-zero orbital eccentricity.

Astrometric observations with the Hubble Space Telescope measured an inclination of

[36]
53° of the outer planet d, though this result relies on the precise orbital parameters
[41]
which have been substantially revised since this was published. The observed
transits of e suggest an orbit normal inclined within 9° to the line-of-sight, and a possible
detection of the transit of an extended atmosphere around 55 Cancri b would, if
[26]
confirmed, imply that it too is in an orbit that is close to edge-on. Between them, no
measurement of c's nor f's inclinations have been made. It had been thought that with
five planets, the system cannot deviate far from coplanar in order to maintain
[40]
stability. An attempt to measure the spin-orbit misalignment of the innermost planet
 [42]
reported that it was in a nearly polar orbit, but this interpretation of the data has since
been challenged by a subsequent study, with noted inconsistencies between the implied
[43]
and measured stellar rotation.

The approximate ratios of periods of adjacent orbits are (proceeding outward): 1:20, 1:3,
1:6, 1:20. The nearly 1:3 ratio between 55 Cancri b and c is apparently a near
[40]
resonance, rather than a genuine mean motion resonance.

Possible additional planets[edit]

Between planets f and d, there appears to be a huge gap of distance where no planets
are known to orbit. A 2008 paper found that as many as 3 additional planets of up to 50
times the mass of Earth could orbit at a distance of 0.9 to 3.8 AU from the star, and
stable resonances of a hypothetical planet g with the known planets were found to be
[44]
3f:2g, 2g:1d, and 3g:2d. A study released in 2019 showed that undiscovered
terrestrial planets may be able to orbit safely in this region at 1 to 2 AU; this space
[45]
includes the outer limits of 55 Cancri's habitable Zone. In 2021, it was found that
terrestrial planets with comparable water content to Earth may have indeed been able to
[46]
form and survive between the planets f and d. As for the space outside d's orbit, its
stability zone begins beyond 10 AU, though there is a stability zone between 8.6 and 9
[44]
AU due to a 2:1 resonance.

Search for Radio Emissions[edit]

Since 55 Cancri e orbits less than 0.1 AU from its host star, some scientists
hypothesized that it may cause stellar flaring synchronized to the orbital period of the
exoplanet. A 2011 search for these magnetic star-planet interactions that would result in
coronal radio emissions resulted in no detected signal. Furthermore, no magnetospheric
[47]
radio emissions were detected from any exoplanet within the system.

Communication[edit]
A METI message was sent to 55 Cancri. It was transmitted from Eurasia's largest
radar—the 70 m (230 ft) Evpatoria Planetary Radar. The message was named Cosmic
[48]
Call 2; it was sent on July 6, 2003, and it will arrive at 55 Cancri in May 2044.
Kepler-62
Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star cooler and smaller than the Sun, located
roughly 980 light-years (300 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It resides
within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler
Mission used to detect planets that may be transiting their stars. On April 18, 2013, it
was announced that the star has five planets, two of which, Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f
[2][4]
are within the star's habitable zone. The outermost, Kepler-62f, is likely a rocky
[2]
planet.

Nomenclature and history[edit]

The Kepler Space Telescope search volume, in the context of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Prior to Kepler observation, Kepler-62 had the 2MASS catalogue number 2MASS
J18525105+4520595. In the Kepler Input Catalog it has the designation of KIC
9002278, and when it was found to have transiting planet candidates it was given the
Kepler object of interest number of KOI-701.

Planetary candidates were detected around the star by NASA's Kepler Mission, a
mission tasked with discovering planets in transit around their stars. The transit method
that Kepler uses involves detecting dips in brightness in stars. These dips in brightness
can be interpreted as planets whose orbits pass in front of their stars from the
perspective of Earth, although other phenomena can also be responsible which is why
[5]
the term planetary candidate is used.
Following the acceptance of the discovery paper, the Kepler team provided an
[6]
additional moniker for the system of "Kepler-62". The discoverers referred to the star
as Kepler-62, which is the normal procedure for naming the exoplanets discovered by
[2]
the spacecraft. Hence, this is the name used by the public to refer to the star and its
planets.

Candidate planets that are associated with stars studied by the Kepler Mission are
assigned the designations ".01", ".02", ".03", ".04", ".05" etc. after the star's name, in the
[7]
order of discovery. If planet candidates are detected simultaneously, then the ordering
[7]
follows the order of orbital periods from shortest to longest. Following these rules, the
first three candidate planets were detected simultaneously, with orbital periods of
[2]
18.16406, 5.714932, and 122.3874 days, respectively, in the 2011 data release, with
another two candidate planets, with orbital periods of 267.29 and 12.4417 days,
[2]
respectively, being detected in a 2012 data release by the Kepler spacecraft.

The designations b, c, d, e, and f derive from the order of discovery. The designation of
b is given to the first planet orbiting a given star, followed by the other lowercase letters
[8]
of the alphabet. In the case of Kepler-62, all of the known planets in the system were
announced at one time, so b is applied to the closest planet to the star and f to the
[2]
farthest. The name Kepler-62 derives directly from the fact that the star is the
catalogued 62nd star discovered by Kepler to have confirmed planets.

Stellar characteristics[edit]
Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star that is approximately 69% the mass of and
[2]
64% the radius of the Sun. It has a temperature of 4925 K and is 7 billion years old. In
[9]
comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and has a temperature of 5778
[10]
K.

The star is somewhat poor in metals, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of about –0.37, or about
42% of the amount of iron and other heavier metals found in the Sun, which is similar to
[2]
that of Kepler-442. The star's luminosity is typical for a star like Kepler-62, with a
[2]
luminosity of around 21% of that of the solar luminosity.

The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is
13.75. Therefore, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
Planetary system[edit]
Compani Mass Semimaj Orbital Eccentrici Inclinatio Radius
on or axis period ty n

(in order (AU) (days)

from star)

b <9 0.0553 ± 5.71493 — 89.2 ± 1.31 ± 0.04 R🜨

M🜨 0.0005 ± 0.4°
0.00001

c <4 0.093 ± 12.4417 — 89.7 ± 0.54 ± 0.03 R🜨

M🜨 0.001 ± 0.2°
0.00001

d <14 0.120 ± 18.1640 — 89.7 ± 1.95 ± 0.07 R🜨

M🜨 0.001 6± 0.3°
0.00002

e <36 0.427 ± 122.387 — 89.98 ± [3]

1.670±0.051
M🜨 0.004 4± 0.02°
0.0008
R🜨

f <35 0.718 ± 267.29 — 89.9 ± [3]

1.461±0.070
M🜨 0.007 ± 0.005 0.03°
R🜨

All known planets transit the star; this means that all five planets' orbits appear to cross
in front of their star as viewed from the Earth's perspective. Their inclinations relative to
Earth's line of sight, or how far above or below the plane of sight they are, vary by less
than one degree. This allows direct measurements of the planets' periods and relative
diameters (compared to the host star) by monitoring each planet's transit of the star.
The exact eccentricity of the planets are not known but estimates place it very close to
[2]
0, giving the planets a mostly circular orbit.
The radii of the planets fall between 0.54 and 1.95 Earth radii. Of particular interest are
the planets e and f, as they were the best candidates for solid planets falling into the
habitable zone of their star at the time of discovery. Their radii, 1.61 and 1.41 Earth radii
respectively, put them in a radius range where they may be solid terrestrial planets.
Their positions within the Kepler-62 system mean that they fall within Kepler-62's
habitable zone: the distance range where, for a given chemical composition (significant
amounts of carbon dioxide for Kepler-62f, and a protective cloud cover for Kepler-62e),
[2]
these two planets could have liquid water on their surfaces, perhaps completely
[11][12]
covering them. The masses of the planets could not be directly determined using
either the radial velocity or the transit timing method; this failure leads to weak upper
limits for the planets' masses. For e and f, that upper limit amounts to 36 and 35 Earth
[2]
masses, respectively; the real masses are expected to be significantly lower. Based
on composition models, the Planetary Habitability Laboratory estimated masses for the
[13]
planets of 2.1, 0.1, 5.5, 3.6, and 2.6 M E, respectively. The existence of an additional
planet (at a distance of 0.22 AU, between Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f) of the Kepler-62
[14]
system was predicted, but no such planet has been detected. To keep this planetary
system, which is highly sensitive to perturbations, stable, no additional giant planets can
[15]
be located within 30 AU from the parent star.

AU Microscopii
AU Microscopii (AU Mic) is a young red dwarf star located 31.7 light-years (9.7
[5]
parsecs) away – about 8 times as far as the closest star after the Sun. The apparent
[2]
visual magnitude of AU Microscopii is 8.73, which is too dim to be seen with the
naked eye. It was given this designation because it is in the southern constellation
Microscopium and is a variable star. Like β Pictoris, AU Microscopii has a circumstellar
disk of dust known as a debris disk and at least two exoplanets, with the presence of an
[6][3]
additional two planets being likely.

Stellar properties[edit]
AU Mic is a young star at only 22 million years old; less than 1% of the age of the
[7] [2] [8]
Sun. With a stellar classification of M1 Ve, it is a red dwarf star with a physical
[9][10]
radius of 75% that of the Sun. Despite being half the Sun's mass, it is radiating
 [11]
only 9% as much luminosity as the Sun. This energy is being emitted from the star's
outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 3,700 K, giving it the cool orange-red
[12]
hued glow of an M-type star. AU Microscopii is a member of the β Pictoris moving
[13][14]
group. AU Microscopii may be gravitationally bound to the binary star system AT
[15]
Microscopii.

[16]
A light curve for AU Microscopii, plotted from TESS data

AU Microscopii has been observed in every part of the electromagnetic spectrum from
radio to X-ray and is known to undergo flaring activity at all these
[17][18][19][20] [21][22]
wavelengths. Its flaring behaviour was first identified in 1973.
Underlying these random outbreaks is a nearly sinusoidal variation in its brightness with
a period of 4.865 days. The amplitude of this variation changes slowly with time. The V
band brightness variation was approximately 0.3 magnitudes in 1971; by 1980 it was
[23]
merely 0.1 magnitudes.

Planetary system[edit]
AU Microscopii's debris disk has an asymmetric structure and an inner gap or hole
cleared of debris, which has led a number of astronomers to search for planets orbiting
[24][25]
AU Microscopii. By 2007, no searches had led to any detections of planets.
However, in 2020 the discovery of a Neptune-sized planet was announced based on
[7]
transit observations by TESS. Its rotation axis is well aligned with the rotation axis of
the parent star, with the misalignment being equal to 5+16​
[26]
−15°.

Since 2018, a second planet, AU Microscopii c, was suspected to exist. It was

confirmed in December 2020, after additional transit events were documented by the
[27]
TESS observatory.
A third planet in the system was suspected since 2022 based on transit-timing
[28]
variations, and "validated" in 2023, although several possible orbital periods of planet
[6]
d cannot be ruled out yet. This planet has a mass comparable to that of Earth. Radial
[3]
velocity observations have also found evidence for a fourth, outer planet as of 2023.
Observations of the AU Microscopii system with the James Webb Space Telescope
[29]
were unable to confirm the presence of previously unknown companions.

Compa Mass Semimaj Orbital period Eccentricit Inclinati Radius

nion or axis y on
(days)
(in order (AU)
from
star)

b 10.2+3.9 0.0645±0 8.4630351±0.0 0.00021±0. 89.9904 4.07±0.

.0013 000003 00006 +0.0036 17 R🜨
−2.7 M🜨
−0.0019°

d 1.014±0.1 — 12.73812±0.00 0.00097±0. 88.10±0. —

(unconfir 128 00042 43°
46 M🜨
med)

c 14.2+4.8 0.1101±0 18.85901±0.00 0.01056±0. 89.589+ 3.24±0.

.0020 009 00089 0.058 16 R🜨
−3.5 M🜨
−0.068°

e 35.2+6.7 — 33.39±0.10 — — —
(unconfir
med) −5.4 M🜨

Debris <50–>150 AU — —
disk

Debris disk[edit]
 Hubble Space Telescope image of the debris disk around AU Microscopii.

This short time lapse sequence shows images of the debris disk's "fast-moving features".

James Webb Space Telescope has imaged (Au Mic) the inner workings of a dusty disk
[31]
surrounding a nearby red dwarf star.

All-sky observations with the Infrared Astronomy Satellite revealed faint infrared
[32][33]
emission from AU Microscopii. This emission is due to a circumstellar disk of dust
which first resolved at optical wavelengths in 2003 by Paul Kalas and collaborators
[5]
using the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. This large
[34]
debris disk faces the earth edge-on at nearly 90 degrees, and measures at least 200
AU in radius. At these large distances from the star, the lifetime of dust in the disk
[5]
exceeds the age of AU Microscopii. The disk has a gas to dust mass ratio of no more
[35]
than 6:1, much lower than the usually assumed primordial value of 100:1. The debris
disk is therefore referred to as "gas-poor", as the primordial gas within the circumstellar
[36]
system has been mostly depleted. The total amount of dust visible in the disk is
estimated to be at least a lunar mass, while the larger planetesimals from which the
[37]
dust is produced are inferred to have at least six lunar masses.
The spectral energy distribution of AU Microscopii's debris disk at submillimetre
[38]
wavelengths indicate the presence of an inner hole in the disk extending to 17 AU,
[39]
while scattered light images estimate the inner hole to be 12 AU in radius. Combining
the spectral energy distribution with the surface brightness profile yields a smaller
[24]
estimate of the radius of the inner hole, 1 - 10 AU. The inner part of the disk is
[40]
asymmetric and shows structure in the inner 40 AU. The inner structure has been
compared with that expected to be seen if the disk is influenced by larger bodies or has
[40]
undergone recent planet formation. The surface brightness (brightness per area) of
the disk in the near infrared as a function of projected distance from the star follows a
characteristic shape. The inner r<15AU of the disk appear approximately constant in
[39]
density and the brightness is unchanging, more-or-less flat. Around r≈15AU the
density and surface brightness begins to decrease: first it decreases slowly in proportion
to distance as I∝r−1.8; then outside r≈43AU, the density and brightness drops much
more steeply, as I∝r−4.7

[39]
. This "broken power-law" shape is similar to the shape of the profile of β Pic's disk.

In October 2015 it was reported that astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT)
had detected very unusual outward-moving features in the disk. By comparing the VLT
images with those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010 and 2011 it was found
that the wave-like structures are moving away from the star at speeds of up to 10
kilometers per second (22,000 miles per hour). The waves farther away from the star
seem to be moving faster than those close to it, and at least three of the features are
[41]
moving fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of the star. Follow-up
observations with the SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope were able to
[42]
confirm the presence of the fast-moving features, and James Webb Space
[29]
Telescope observations found similar features within the disk in two NIRCam filters;
however, these features have not been detected in the radio with Atacama Large
[43][44]
Millimeter Array observations. These fast-moving features have been described
as "dust avalanches", where dust particles catastrophically collide into planetesimals
[45][44]
within the disk.

Methods of observation[edit]
 Artist's impression of AU Microscopii Credit: NASA/ESA/G. Bacon (STScI)

AU Mic's disk has been observed at a variety of different wavelengths, giving humans
different types of information about the system. The light from the disk observed at
optical wavelengths is stellar light that has reflected (scattered) off dust particles into
Earth's line of sight. Observations at these wavelengths utilize a coronagraphic spot to
block the bright light coming directly from the star. Such observations provide
high-resolution images of the disk. Because light having a wavelength longer than the
size of a dust grain is scattered only poorly, comparing images at different wavelengths
(visible and near-infrared, for example) gives humans information about the sizes of the
[46]
dust grains in the disk.

[47]
Hubble observations of blobs of material sweeping through stellar disc.

Optical observations have been made with the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck
Telescopes. The system has also been observed at infrared and sub-millimeter
wavelengths with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and
the James Webb Space Telescope. This light is emitted directly by dust grains as a
result of their internal heat (modified blackbody radiation). The disk cannot be resolved
at these wavelengths, so such observations are measurements of the amount of light
coming from the entire system. Observations at increasingly longer wavelengths give
information about dust particles of larger sizes and at larger distances from the star.
Epsilon Eridani
[17]
Epsilon Eridani (Latinized from ε Eridani), proper name Ran, is a star in the
southern constellation of Eridanus. At a declination of −9.46°, it is visible from most of
Earth's surface. Located at a distance 10.5 light-years (3.2 parsecs) from the Sun, it has
an apparent magnitude of 3.73, making it the third-closest individual star (or star
system) visible to the naked eye.
[18]
The star is estimated to be less than a billion years old. This relative youth gives
Epsilon Eridani a higher level of magnetic activity than the Sun, with a stellar wind 30
times as strong. The star's rotation period is 11.2 days at the equator. Epsilon Eridani is
smaller and less massive than the Sun, and has a lower level of elements heavier than
[19]
helium. It is a main-sequence star of spectral class K2, with an effective temperature
of about 5,000 K (8,500 °F), giving it an orange hue. It is a candidate member of the
Ursa Major moving group of stars, which share a similar motion through the Milky Way,
implying these stars shared a common origin in an open cluster.

Periodic changes in Epsilon Eridani's radial velocity have yielded evidence of a giant
[20]
planet orbiting it, designated Epsilon Eridani b. The discovery of the planet was
[21]
initially controversial, but most astronomers now regard the planet as confirmed. In
[22]
2015 the planet was given the proper name AEgir [sic]. The Epsilon Eridani planetary
system also includes a debris disc consisting of a Kuiper belt analogue at 70 au from
[23][24]
the star and warm dust between about 3 au and 20 au from the star. The gap in
the debris disc between 20 and 70 au implies the likely existence of outer planets in the
system.
[25]
As one of the nearest Sun-like stars, Epsilon Eridani has been the target of several
observations in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Epsilon Eridani appears in
[26]
science fiction stories and has been suggested as a destination for interstellar travel.
From Epsilon Eridani, the Sun would appear as a star in Serpens, with an apparent
[note 1]
magnitude of 2.4.

Nomenclature[edit]
ε Eridani, Latinised to Epsilon Eridani, is the star's Bayer designation. Despite being a
relatively bright star, it was not given a proper name by early astronomers. It has several
other catalogue designations. Upon its discovery, the planet was designated Epsilon
Eridani b, following the usual designation system for extrasolar planets.

The planet and its host star were selected by the International Astronomical Union (IAU)
as part of the NameExoWorlds competition for giving proper names to exoplanets and
 [27][28]
their host stars, for some systems that did not already have proper names. The
process involved nominations by educational groups and public voting for the proposed
[29]
names. In December 2015, the IAU announced the winning names were Ran for the
[22]
star and AEgir [sic] for the planet. Those names had been submitted by the pupils of
the 8th Grade at Mountainside Middle School in Colbert, Washington, United States.
Both names derive from Norse mythology: Rán is the goddess of the sea and Ægir, her
[30]
husband, is the god of the ocean.

[31]
In 2016, the IAU organised a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue
[32]
and standardise proper names for stars. In its first bulletin of July 2016, the WGSN
explicitly recognised the names of exoplanets and their host stars that were produced
by the competition. Epsilon Eridani is now listed as Ran in the IAU Catalog of Star
[17]
Names. Professional astronomers have mostly continued to refer to the star as
[33]
Epsilon Eridani.

In Chinese, 天苑 (Tiān Yuàn), meaning Celestial Meadows, refers to an asterism

1
consisting of ε Eridani, γ Eridani, δ Eridani, π Eridani, ζ Eridani, η Eridani, π Ceti, τ
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani, τ Eridani and
9 [34]
τ Eridani. Consequently, the Chinese name for ε Eridani itself is 天苑四 (Tiān Yuàn
[35]
sì, the Fourth [Star] of Celestial Meadows.)

Observational history

Epsilon Eridani has been known to astronomers since at least the 2nd century AD,
when Claudius Ptolemy (a Greek astronomer from Alexandria, Egypt) included it in his
catalogue of more than a thousand stars. The catalogue was published as part of his
astronomical treatise the Almagest. The constellation Eridanus was named by Ptolemy
– Ποταμού (Ancient Greek for 'River'), and Epsilon Eridani was listed as its thirteenth
star. Ptolemy called Epsilon Eridani ό τών δ προηγούμενος (Ancient Greek for 'a
foregoing of the four') (here δ is the number four). This refers to a group of four stars in
Eridanus: γ, π, δ and ε (10th–13th in Ptolemy's list). ε is the most western of these, and
thus the first of the four in the apparent daily motion of the sky from east to west.
Modern scholars of Ptolemy's catalogue designate its entry as "P 784" (in order of
[36][37]
appearance) and "Eri 13". Ptolemy described the star's magnitude as 3.

Epsilon Eridani was included in several star catalogues of medieval Islamic

astronomical treatises, which were based on Ptolemy's catalogue: in Al-Sufi's Book of
Fixed Stars, published in 964, Al-Biruni's Mas'ud Canon, published in 1030, and Ulugh
Beg's Zij-i Sultani, published in 1437. Al-Sufi's estimate of Epsilon Eridani's magnitude
was 3. Al-Biruni quotes magnitudes from Ptolemy and Al-Sufi (for Epsilon Eridani he
quotes the value 4 for both Ptolemy's and Al-Sufi's magnitudes; original values of both
 [38]
these magnitudes are 3). Its number in order of appearance is 786. Ulugh Beg
carried out new measurements of Epsilon Eridani's coordinates in his observatory at
Samarkand, and quotes magnitudes from Al-Sufi (3 for Epsilon Eridani). The modern
designations of its entry in Ulugh Beg's catalogue are "U 781" and "Eri 13" (the latter is
[36][37]
the same as Ptolemy's catalogue designation).

In 1598 Epsilon Eridani was included in Tycho Brahe's star catalogue, republished in
1627 by Johannes Kepler as part of his Rudolphine Tables. This catalogue was based
on Tycho Brahe's observations of 1577–1597, including those on the island of Hven at
his observatories of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg. The sequence number of Epsilon
Eridani in the constellation Eridanus was 10, and it was designated Quae omnes
quatuor antecedit (Latin for 'which precedes all four'); the meaning is the same as
[36][39]
Ptolemy's description. Brahe assigned it magnitude 3.

Epsilon Eridani's Bayer designation was established in 1603 as part of the Uranometria,
a star catalogue produced by German celestial cartographer Johann Bayer. His
catalogue assigned letters from the Greek alphabet to groups of stars belonging to the
same visual magnitude class in each constellation, beginning with alpha (α) for a star in
the brightest class. Bayer made no attempt to arrange stars by relative brightness within
[40]
each class. Thus, although Epsilon is the fifth letter in the Greek alphabet, the star is
[41]
the tenth-brightest in Eridanus. In addition to the letter ε, Bayer had given it the
number 13 (the same as Ptolemy's catalogue number, as were many of Bayer's
[note 2]
numbers) and described it as Decima septima (Latin for 'the seventeenth'). Bayer
[42]
assigned Epsilon Eridani magnitude 3.

In 1690 Epsilon Eridani was included in the star catalogue of Johannes Hevelius. Its
sequence number in constellation Eridanus was 14, its designation was Tertia (Latin for
[36][43]
'the third'), and it was assigned magnitude 3 or 4 (sources differ). The star
catalogue of English astronomer John Flamsteed, published in 1712, gave Epsilon
Eridani the Flamsteed designation of 18 Eridani, because it was the eighteenth
[4]
catalogued star in the constellation of Eridanus by order of increasing right ascension.
In 1818 Epsilon Eridani was included in Friedrich Bessel's catalogue, based on James
[44]
Bradley's observations from 1750–1762, and at magnitude 4. It also appeared in
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille's catalogue of 398 principal stars, whose 307-star version was
published in 1755 in the Ephémérides des Mouvemens Célestes, pour dix années,
[45]
1755–1765, and whose full version was published in 1757 in Astronomiæ
[46]
Fundamenta, Paris. In its 1831 edition by Francis Baily, Epsilon Eridani has the
[47] [45][46][47]
number 50. Lacaille assigned it magnitude 3.

In 1801 Epsilon Eridani was included in Histoire céleste française, Joseph Jérôme
Lefrançois de Lalande's catalogue of about 50,000 stars, based on his observations of
1791–1800, in which observations are arranged in time order. It contains three
 [note 3][48]
observations of Epsilon Eridani. In 1847, a new edition of Lalande's catalogue
was published by Francis Baily, containing the majority of its observations, in which the
stars were numbered in order of right ascension. Because every observation of each
star was numbered and Epsilon Eridani was observed three times, it got three numbers:
[49]
6581, 6582 and 6583. (Today numbers from this catalogue are used with the prefix
[50] [48][49]
"Lalande", or "Lal". ) Lalande assigned Epsilon Eridani magnitude 3. Also in
1801 it was included in the catalogue of Johann Bode, in which about 17,000 stars were
grouped into 102 constellations and numbered (Epsilon Eridani got the number 159 in
the constellation Eridanus). Bode's catalogue was based on observations of various
astronomers, including Bode himself, but mostly on Lalande's and Lacaille's (for the
[51]
southern sky). Bode assigned Epsilon Eridani magnitude 3. In 1814 Giuseppe Piazzi
published the second edition of his star catalogue (its first edition was published in
1803), based on observations during 1792–1813, in which more than 7000 stars were
grouped into 24 hours (0–23). Epsilon Eridani is number 89 in hour 3. Piazzi assigned it
[52]
magnitude 4. In 1918 Epsilon Eridani appeared in the Henry Draper Catalogue with
[53]
the designation HD 22049 and a preliminary spectral classification of K0.

Detection of proximity[edit]

Based on observations between 1800 and 1880, Epsilon Eridani was found to have a
large proper motion across the celestial sphere, which was estimated at three
[54]
arcseconds per year (angular velocity). This movement implied it was relatively close
[55]
to the Sun, making it a star of interest for the purpose of stellar parallax
measurements. This process involves recording the position of Epsilon Eridani as Earth
[54]
moves around the Sun, which allows a star's distance to be estimated. From 1881 to
1883, American astronomer William L. Elkin used a heliometer at the Royal Observatory
at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, to compare the position of Epsilon Eridani with
two nearby stars. From these observations, a parallax of 0.14 ± 0.02 arcseconds was
[56][57]
calculated. By 1917, observers had refined their parallax estimate to 0.317
[58]
arcseconds. The modern value of 0.3109 arcseconds is equivalent to a distance of
[1]
about 10.50 light-years (3.22 pc).

Circumstellar discoveries[edit]
 Submillimeter wavelength image of a ring of dust particles around Epsilon Eridani (above centre).
The brightest areas indicate the regions with the highest concentrations of dust.

Based on apparent changes in the position of Epsilon Eridani between 1938 and 1972,
Peter van de Kamp proposed that an unseen companion with an orbital period of 25
[59]
years was causing gravitational perturbations in its position. This claim was refuted in
1993 by Wulff-Dieter Heintz and the false detection was blamed on a systematic error in
[60]
the photographic plates.

Launched in 1983, the space telescope IRAS detected infrared emissions from stars
[61] [62]
near to the Sun, including an excess infrared emission from Epsilon Eridani. The
[62]
observations indicated a disk of fine-grained cosmic dust was orbiting the star; this
debris disk has since been extensively studied. Evidence for a planetary system was
discovered in 1998 by the observation of asymmetries in this dust ring. The clumping in
the dust distribution could be explained by gravitational interactions with a planet
[63]
orbiting just inside the dust ring.

In 1987, the detection of an orbiting planetary object was announced by Bruce

[64][65]
Campbell, Gordon Walker and Stephenson Yang. From 1980 to 2000, a team of
astronomers led by Artie P. Hatzes made radial velocity observations of Epsilon Eridani,
measuring the Doppler shift of the star along the line of sight. They found evidence of a
[20]
planet orbiting the star with a period of about seven years. Although there is a high
[66]
level of noise in the radial velocity data due to magnetic activity in its photosphere,
any periodicity caused by this magnetic activity is expected to show a strong correlation
with variations in emission lines of ionized calcium (the Ca II H and K lines). Because no
such correlation was found, a planetary companion was deemed the most likely
[67]
cause. This discovery was supported by astrometric measurements of Epsilon
Eridani made between 2001 and 2003 with the Hubble Space Telescope, which showed
[8]
evidence for gravitational perturbation of Epsilon Eridani by a planet.

SETI and proposed exploration[edit]

In 1960, physicists Philip Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi proposed that extraterrestrial
[68]
civilisations might be using radio signals for communication. Project Ozma, led by
astronomer Frank Drake, used the Tatel Telescope to search for such signals from the
nearby Sun-like stars Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti. The systems were observed at the
emission frequency of neutral hydrogen, 1,420 MHz (21 cm). No signals of intelligent
[69]
extraterrestrial origin were detected. Drake repeated the experiment in 2010, with the
[68]
same negative result. Despite this lack of success, Epsilon Eridani made its way into
science fiction literature and television shows for many years following news of Drake's
[70]
initial experiment.

In Habitable Planets for Man, a 1964 RAND Corporation study by space scientist
Stephen H. Dole, the probability of a habitable planet being in orbit around Epsilon
Eridani were estimated at 3.3%. Among the known nearby stars, it was listed with the
[71]
14 stars that were thought most likely to have a habitable planet.

William I. McLaughlin proposed a new strategy in the search for extraterrestrial

intelligence (SETI) in 1977. He suggested that widely observable events such as nova
explosions might be used by intelligent extraterrestrials to synchronise the transmission
and reception of their signals. This idea was tested by the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory in 1988, which used outbursts of Nova Cygni 1975 as the timer. Fifteen
days of observation showed no anomalous radio signals coming from Epsilon
[72]
Eridani.

Because of the proximity and Sun-like properties of Epsilon Eridani, in 1985 physicist
and author Robert L. Forward considered the system as a plausible target for interstellar
[73]
travel. The following year, the British Interplanetary Society suggested Epsilon
[74]
Eridani as one of the targets in its Project Daedalus study. The system has continued
[26]
to be among the targets of such proposals, such as Project Icarus in 2011.

Based on its nearby location, Epsilon Eridani was among the target stars for Project
[75]
Phoenix, a 1995 microwave survey for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. The
[76]
project had checked about 800 stars by 2004 but had not yet detected any signals.

Properties[edit]
 Illustration of the relative sizes of Epsilon Eridani (left) and the Sun (right)

At a distance of 10.50 ly (3.22 parsecs), Epsilon Eridani is the 13th-nearest known star
[9]
(and ninth nearest solitary star or stellar system) to the Sun as of 2014. Its proximity
[77]
makes it one of the most studied stars of its spectral type. Epsilon Eridani is located
in the northern part of the constellation Eridanus, about 3° east of the slightly brighter
star Delta Eridani. With a declination of −9.46°, Epsilon Eridani can be viewed from
much of Earth's surface, at suitable times of year. Only to the north of latitude 80° N is it
[78]
permanently hidden below the horizon. The apparent magnitude of 3.73 can make it
difficult to observe from an urban area with the unaided eye, because the night skies
[79]
over cities are obscured by light pollution.

[10][11]
Epsilon Eridani has an estimated mass of 0.82 solar masses and a radius of
[12] [80]
0.738 solar radii. It shines with a luminosity of only 0.34 solar luminosities. The
[81]
estimated effective temperature is 5,084 K. With a stellar classification of K2 V, it is
[9]
the second-nearest K-type main-sequence star (after Alpha Centauri B). Since 1943
the spectrum of Epsilon Eridani has served as one of the stable anchor points by which
[82]
other stars are classified. Its metallicity, the fraction of elements heavier than helium,
[83]
is slightly lower than the Sun's. In Epsilon Eridani's chromosphere, a region of the
outer atmosphere just above the light emitting photosphere, the abundance of iron is
[83]
estimated at 74% of the Sun's value. The proportion of lithium in the atmosphere is
[84]
five times less than that in the Sun.

Epsilon Eridani's K-type classification indicates that the spectrum has relatively weak
absorption lines from absorption by hydrogen (Balmer lines) but strong lines of neutral
atoms and singly ionized calcium (Ca II). The luminosity class V (dwarf) is assigned to
stars that are undergoing thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in their core. For a K-type
main-sequence star, this fusion is dominated by the proton–proton chain reaction, in
which a series of reactions effectively combines four hydrogen nuclei to form a helium
nucleus. The energy released by fusion is transported outward from the core through
radiation, which results in no net motion of the surrounding plasma. Outside of this
region, in the envelope, energy is carried to the photosphere by plasma convection,
[85]
where it then radiates into space.
Magnetic activity[edit]

Epsilon Eridani has a higher level of magnetic activity than the Sun, and thus the outer
parts of its atmosphere (the chromosphere and corona) are more dynamic. The average
−2
magnetic field strength of Epsilon Eridani across the entire surface is (1.65±0.30)×10
[86] −5
tesla, which is more than forty times greater than the (5–40) × 10 T magnetic-field
[87]
strength in the Sun's photosphere. The magnetic properties can be modelled by
assuming that regions with a magnetic flux of about 0.14 T randomly cover
approximately 9% of the photosphere, whereas the remainder of the surface is free of
[88]
magnetic fields. The overall magnetic activity of Epsilon Eridani shows co-existing
[84]
2.95±0.03 and 12.7±0.3 year activity cycles. Assuming that its radius does not
change over these intervals, the long-term variation in activity level appears to produce
a temperature variation of 15 K, which corresponds to a variation in visual magnitude
[89]
(V) of 0.014.

The magnetic field on the surface of Epsilon Eridani causes variations in the
hydrodynamic behaviour of the photosphere. This results in greater jitter during
−1
measurements of its radial velocity. Variations of 15 m s were measured over a 20
−1
year period, which is much higher than the measurement uncertainty of 3 m s . This
makes interpretation of periodicities in the radial velocity of Epsilon Eridani, such as
[66]
those caused by an orbiting planet, more difficult.

A light curve for Epsilon Eridani, showing averages of the b and y band magnitudes between
[14] [90]
2014 and 2021. The inset shows the periodic variation over a 12.3-day rotational period.

Epsilon Eridani is classified as a BY Draconis variable because it has regions of higher

[6]
magnetic activity that move into and out of the line of sight as it rotates. Measurement
of this rotational modulation suggests that its equatorial region rotates with an average
[15]
period of 11.2 days, which is less than half of the rotation period of the Sun.
Observations have shown that Epsilon Eridani varies as much as 0.050 in V magnitude
[90]
due to starspots and other short-term magnetic activity. Photometry has also shown
that the surface of Epsilon Eridani, like the Sun, is undergoing differential rotation i.e.
the rotation period at equator differs from that at high latitude. The measured periods
[89][note 4]
range from 10.8 to 12.3 days. The axial tilt of Epsilon Eridani toward the line of
[15]
sight from Earth is highly uncertain: estimates range from 24° to 72°.

The high levels of chromospheric activity, strong magnetic field, and relatively fast
[91]
rotation rate of Epsilon Eridani are characteristic of a young star. Most estimates of
[18]
the age of Epsilon Eridani place it in the range from 200 million to 800 million years.
The low abundance of heavy elements in the chromosphere of Epsilon Eridani usually
indicates an older star, because the interstellar medium (out of which stars form) is
[92]
steadily enriched by heavier elements produced by older generations of stars. This
anomaly might be caused by a diffusion process that has transported some of the
heavier elements out of the photosphere and into a region below Epsilon Eridani's
[93]
convection zone.

28 –1 21
The X-ray luminosity of Epsilon Eridani is about 2×10 erg·s (2×10 W). It is more
luminous in X-rays than the Sun at peak activity. The source for this strong X-ray
[94][95]
emission is Epsilon Eridani's hot corona. Epsilon Eridani's corona appears larger
6
and hotter than the Sun's, with a temperature of 3.4×10 K, measured from observation
[96]
of the corona's ultraviolet and X-ray emission. It displays a cyclical variation in X-ray
[97]
emission that is consistent with the magnetic activity cycle.

The stellar wind emitted by Epsilon Eridani expands until it collides with the surrounding
interstellar medium of diffuse gas and dust, resulting in a bubble of heated hydrogen
gas (an astrosphere, the equivalent of the heliosphere that surrounds the Sun). The
absorption spectrum from this gas has been measured with the Hubble Space
[96]
Telescope, allowing the properties of the stellar wind to be estimated. Epsilon
Eridani's hot corona results in a mass loss rate in Epsilon Eridani's stellar wind that is 30
times higher than the Sun's. This stellar wind generates the astrosphere that spans
about 8,000 au (0.039 pc) and contains a bow shock that lies 1,600 au (0.0078 pc) from
Epsilon Eridani. At its estimated distance from Earth, this astrosphere spans 42
[98]
arcminutes, which is wider than the apparent size of the full Moon.

Kinematics[edit]

Epsilon Eridani has a high proper motion, moving −0.976 arcseconds per year in right
ascension (the celestial equivalent of longitude) and 0.018 arcseconds per year in
[1][note
declination (celestial latitude), for a combined total of 0.962 arcseconds per year.
5] [100]
The star has a radial velocity of +15.5 km/s (35,000 mph) (away from the Sun).
The space velocity components of Epsilon Eridani in the galactic co-ordinate system are
(U, V, W) = (−3, +7, −20) km/s, which means that it is travelling within the Milky Way at a
mean galactocentric distance of 28.7 kly (8.79 kiloparsecs) from the core along an orbit
[101]
that has an eccentricity of 0.09. The position and velocity of Epsilon Eridani indicate
that it may be a member of the Ursa Major Moving Group, whose members share a
common motion through space. This behaviour suggests that the moving group
[102]
originated in an open cluster that has since diffused. The estimated age of this
[103]
group is 500±100 million years, which lies within the range of the age estimates for
Epsilon Eridani.

During the past million years, three stars are believed to have come within 7 ly (2.1 pc)
of Epsilon Eridani. The most recent and closest of these encounters was with Kapteyn's
Star, which approached to a distance of about 3 ly (0.92 pc) roughly 12,500 years ago.
Two more distant encounters were with Sirius and Ross 614. None of these encounters
are thought to have been close enough to affect the circumstellar disk orbiting Epsilon
[104]
Eridani.

Epsilon Eridani made its closest approach to the Sun about 105,000 years ago, when
[105]
they were separated by 7 ly (2.1 pc). Based upon a simulation of close encounters
with nearby stars, the binary star system Luyten 726-8, which includes the variable star
UV Ceti, will encounter Epsilon Eridani in approximately 31,500 years at a minimum
distance of about 0.9 ly (0.29 parsecs). They will be less than 1 ly (0.3 parsecs) apart
for about 4,600 years. If Epsilon Eridani has an Oort cloud, Luyten 726-8 could
[106][unreliable source?]
gravitationally perturb some of its comets with long orbital periods.

Planetary system[edit]
Compani Mass Semimaj Orbital Eccentrici Inclinatio Radiu
on or axis period ty n s
(in order (AU) (days)
from star)

Asteroid ~1.5−2.0 (or 3–4) AU — —

belt

b 0.76+0.14 3.53±0.0 2,688.60+16. 0.26±0.04 166.48+6. —

[10 6 17 63
(AEgir)
9] −0.11 MJ
−16.51 −6.66°
 Asteroid ~8–20 AU — —
belt

Main belt 65–75 AU 33.7° ± —

0.5°

Debris disc[edit]

Image of the epsilon Eridani system taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
[24]
(ALMA) at a wavelength of 1.3mm.

[62]
An infrared excess around Epsilon Eridani was detected by IRAS indicating the
presence of circumstellar dust. Observations with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
(JCMT) at a wavelength of 850 μm show an extended flux of radiation out to an angular
radius of 35 arcseconds around Epsilon Eridani, resolving the debris disc for the first
time. Higher resolution images have since been taken with the Atacama Large
Millimeter Array, showing that the belt is located 70 au from the star with a width of just
[110][24]
11 au. The disc is inclined 33.7° from face-on, making it appear elliptical.

Dust and possibly water ice from this belt migrates inward because of drag from the
stellar wind and a process by which stellar radiation causes dust grains to slowly spiral
[111]
toward Epsilon Eridani, known as the Poynting–Robertson effect. At the same time,
these dust particles can be destroyed through mutual collisions. The time scale for all of
the dust in the disk to be cleared away by these processes is less than Epsilon Eridani's
estimated age. Hence, the current dust disk must have been created by collisions or
other effects of larger parent bodies, and the disk represents a late stage in the
planet-formation process. It would have required collisions between 11 Earth masses'
worth of parent bodies to have maintained the disk in its current state over its estimated
[107]
age.

Comparison of the planets and debris belts in the Solar System to the Epsilon Eridani system. At
the top is the asteroid belt and the inner planets of the Solar System. Second from the top is the
proposed inner asteroid belt and planet b of Epsilon Eridani. The lower illustrations show the
corresponding features for the two stars' outer systems.

The disk contains an estimated mass of dust equal to a sixth of the mass of the Moon,
with individual dust grains exceeding 3.5 μm in size at a temperature of about 55 K. This
dust is being generated by the collision of comets, which range up to 10 to 30 km in
diameter and have a combined mass of 5 to 9 times that of Earth. This is similar to the
[112][113]
estimated 10 Earth masses in the primordial Kuiper belt. The disk around
17
Epsilon Eridani contains less than 2.2 × 10 kg of carbon monoxide. This low level
suggests a paucity of volatile-bearing comets and icy planetesimals compared to the
[114]
Kuiper belt.

The JCMT images show signs of clumpy structure in the belt that may be explained by
gravitational perturbation from a planet, dubbed Epsilon Eridani c. The clumps in the
dust are theorised to occur at orbits that have an integer resonance with the orbit of the
suspected planet. For example, the region of the disk that completes two orbits for
[115]
every three orbits of a planet is in a 3:2 orbital resonance. The planet proposed to
cause these perturbations is predicted to have a semimajor axis of between 40 and 50
[116][117][24]
au. However, the brightest clumps have since been identified as background
[118]
sources and the existence of the remaining clumps remains debated.

Dust is also present closer to the star. Observations from NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope suggest that Epsilon Eridani actually has two asteroid belts and a cloud of
exozodiacal dust. The latter is an analogue of the zodiacal dust that occupies the plane
of the Solar System. One belt sits at approximately the same position as the one in the
Solar System, orbiting at a distance of 3.00 ± 0.75 au from Epsilon Eridani, and consists
18
of silicate grains with a diameter of 3 μm and a combined mass of about 10 kg. If the
planet Epsilon Eridani b exists then this belt is unlikely to have had a source outside the
orbit of the planet, so the dust may have been created by fragmentation and cratering of
 [119]
larger bodies such as asteroids. The second, denser belt, most likely also populated
by asteroids, lies between the first belt and the outer comet disk. The structure of the
belts and the dust disk suggests that more than two planets in the Epsilon Eridani
[107][120]
system are needed to maintain this configuration.

In an alternative scenario, the exozodiacal dust may be generated in the outer belt. This
dust is then transported inward past the orbit of Epsilon Eridani b. When collisions
between the dust grains are taken into account, the dust will reproduce the observed
infrared spectrum and brightness. Outside the radius of ice sublimation, located beyond
10 au from Epsilon Eridani where the temperatures fall below 100 K, the best fit to the
observations occurs when a mix of ice and silicate dust is assumed. Inside this radius,
[111]
the dust must consist of silicate grains that lack volatiles.

The inner region around Epsilon Eridani, from a radius of 2.5 AU inward, appears to be
clear of dust down to the detection limit of the 6.5 m MMT telescope. Grains of dust in
this region are efficiently removed by drag from the stellar wind, while the presence of a
planetary system may also help keep this area clear of debris. Still, this does not
preclude the possibility that an inner asteroid belt may be present with a combined
[121]
mass no greater than the asteroid belt in the Solar System.

Long-period planets[edit]

Artist's impression, showing two asteroid belts and a planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani

As one of the nearest Sun-like stars, Epsilon Eridani has been the target of many
[20][18]
attempts to search for planetary companions. Its chromospheric activity and
variability mean that finding planets with the radial velocity method is difficult, because
[122]
the stellar activity may create signals that mimic the presence of planets. Searches
for exoplanets around Epsilon Eridani with direct imaging have been
[67][123]
unsuccessful.

Infrared observation has shown there are no bodies of three or more Jupiter masses in
[18]
this system, out to at least a distance of 500 au from the host star. Planets with
similar masses and temperatures as Jupiter should be detectable by Spitzer at
distances beyond 80 au. One roughly Jupiter-sized long-period planet has been
[108]
detected and characterized by both the radial velocity and astrometry methods.
Planets more than 150% as massive as Jupiter can be ruled out at the inner edge of the
[16]
debris disk at 30–35 au.

Planet b (AEgir)[edit]

Main article: Epsilon Eridani b

Referred to as Epsilon Eridani b, this planet was announced in 2000, but the discovery
remained controversial over roughly the next two decades. A comprehensive study in
2008 called the detection "tentative" and described the proposed planet as "long
[107]
suspected but still unconfirmed". Many astronomers believed the evidence is
[18][111][119][123]
sufficiently compelling that they regard the discovery as confirmed. The
discovery was questioned in 2013 because a search program at La Silla Observatory
[124]
did not confirm it exists. Further studies since 2018 have gradually reaffirmed the
planet's existence through a combination of radial velocity and
[125][126][127][128][108]
astrometry.

Artist's impression of Epsilon Eridani b orbiting within a zone that has been cleared of dust.
Around the planet are conjectured rings and moons.

Published sources remain in disagreement as to the planet's basic parameters. Recent

[108]
values for its orbital period range from 7.3 to 7.6 years, estimates of the size of its
[129][130]
elliptical orbit—the semimajor axis—range from 3.38 au to 3.53 au, and
[108]
approximations of its orbital eccentricity range from 0.055 to 0.26.

Initially, the planet's mass was unknown, but a lower limit could be estimated based on
the orbital displacement of Epsilon Eridani. Only the component of the displacement
along the line of sight to Earth was known, which yields a value for the formula m sin i,
where m is the mass of the planet and i is the orbital inclination. Estimates for the value
[129][130]
of m sin i ranged from 0.60 Jupiter masses to 1.06 Jupiter masses, which sets
the lower limit for the mass of the planet (because the sine function has a maximum
value of 1). Taking m sin i in the middle of that range at 0.78, and estimating the
inclination at 30° as was suggested by Hubble astrometry, this yields a value of 1.55 ±
[8]
0.24 Jupiter masses for the planet's mass. More recent astrometric studies have
 [108]
found lower masses, ranging from 0.63 to 0.78 Jupiter masses.

Of all the measured parameters for this planet, the value for orbital eccentricity is the
[8]
most uncertain. The eccentricity of 0.7 suggested by some older studies is
inconsistent with the presence of the proposed asteroid belt at a distance of 3 au. If the
eccentricity was this high, the planet would pass through the asteroid belt and clear it
out within about ten thousand years. If the belt has existed for longer than this period,
which appears likely, it imposes an upper limit on Epsilon Eridani b's eccentricity of
[119][120]
about 0.10–0.15. If the dust disk is instead being generated from the outer
debris disk, rather than from collisions in an asteroid belt, then no constraints on the
[111]
planet's orbital eccentricity are needed to explain the dust distribution.

Potential habitability[edit]

Epsilon Eridani is a target for planet finding programs because it has properties that
allow an Earth-like planet to form. Although this system was not chosen as a primary
candidate for the now-canceled Terrestrial Planet Finder, it was a target star for NASA's
[131]
proposed Space Interferometry Mission to search for Earth-sized planets. The
proximity, Sun-like properties and suspected planets of Epsilon Eridani have also made
it the subject of multiple studies on whether an interstellar probe can be sent to Epsilon
[73][74][132]
Eridani.

The orbital radius at which the stellar flux from Epsilon Eridani matches the solar
constant—where the emission matches the Sun's output at the orbital distance of the
[133]
Earth—is 0.61 au. That is within the maximum habitable zone of a conjectured
Earth-like planet orbiting Epsilon Eridani, which currently stretches from about 0.5 to 1.0
au. As Epsilon Eridani ages over a period of 20 billion years, the net luminosity will
[134]
increase, causing this zone to slowly expand outward to about 0.6–1.4 au. The
presence of a large planet with a highly elliptical orbit in proximity to Epsilon Eridani's
habitable zone reduces the likelihood of a terrestrial planet having a stable orbit within
[135]
the habitable zone.

A young star such as Epsilon Eridani can produce large amounts of ultraviolet radiation
that may be harmful to life, but on the other hand it is a cooler star than the Sun and so
[21][136]
produces less ultraviolet radiation to start with. The orbital radius where the UV
[21]
flux matches that on the early Earth lies at just under 0.5 au. Because that is actually
slightly closer to the star than the habitable zone, this has led some researchers to
conclude there is not enough energy from ultraviolet radiation reaching into the
[136]
habitable zone for life to ever get started around the young Epsilon Eridani.