 Artist's impression of 61 Virginis b as a hot super-Earth, with some sporadic volcanic activity. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Vogt et al. |
| Discovery site | Keck Observatory Anglo-Australian Observatory |
| Discovery date | 14 December 2009 |
| Radial velocity | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Apastron | 0.056163 AU |
| Periastron | 0.044239 AU |
| 0.050201±0.000005 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.12±0.11 |
| 4.2150±0.0006 d 101.16 h | |
Average orbital speed | 130.01 |
| 2453369.166 | |
| 105±54 | |
| Star | 61 Virginis |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ~1.6 R🜨 | |
| Mass | ≥ 5.1 ME |
| Temperature | 1,054 K (781 °C; 1,438 °F) |
61 Virginis b (abbreviated 61 Vir b) is an extrasolar planet, orbiting the 5th magnitude G-type star 61 Virginis, in Virgo. This planet has a minimum mass of 5.1 times that of Earth and is an example of a super-Earth planet. It orbits very close to the star, at a distance of 0.050201 AU with an eccentricity of 0.12. This planet was discovered on 14 December 2009 using the radial velocity method taken at Keck and Anglo-Australian Observatories.[1][2]
- ^ Vogt, Steven (2010). "A Super-Earth and two Neptunes Orbiting the Nearby Sun-like star 61 Virginis". The Astrophysical Journal. 708 (2): 1366–1375. arXiv:0912.2599. Bibcode:2010ApJ...708.1366V. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1366. S2CID 1979253.
- ^ Tim Stephens (2009-12-14). "New planet discoveries suggest low-mass planets are common around nearby stars". UCSC News. UC Santa Cruz. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-14.