Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Butler, Marcy |
Discovery site | California, USA |
Discovery date | April 12, 1996 |
Radial velocity | |
Orbital characteristics | |
Apastron | 0.116 AU (17,400,000 km) |
Periastron | 0.113 AU (16,900,000 km) |
0.115 ± 0.0000011 AU (17,203,760 ± 160 km)[1] | |
Eccentricity | 0.014 ± 0.008[1] |
14.65162 ± 0.0007[1] d 0.04011325 y | |
Inclination | ~85[2][3] |
2,450,002.94749 ± 1.2[1] | |
131.94 ± 30[1] | |
Semi-amplitude | 71.32 ± 0.41[1] |
Star | 55 Cancri A |
Physical characteristics | |
Mass | 0.824 ± 0.007[1][2] MJ |
55 Cancri b (abbreviated 55 Cnc b), occasionally designated 55 Cancri Ab (to distinguish it from the star 55 Cancri B), also named Galileo, is an exoplanet orbiting the Sun-like star 55 Cancri A every 14.65 days. It is the second planet in order of distance from its star, and is an example of a hot Jupiter, or possibly rather "warm Jupiter".[4]
In July 2014 the International Astronomical Union launched NameExoWorlds, a process for giving proper names to certain exoplanets and their host stars.[5] The process involved public nomination and voting for the new names.[6] In December 2015, the IAU announced the winning name was Galileo for this planet.[7] The winning name was submitted by the Royal Netherlands Association for Meteorology and Astronomy of the Netherlands. It honors early-17th century astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei.[8]