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Exoplanet · Neptune-like planet

61 Vir d

61 Vir d is a Neptune-like planet orbiting the star 61 Vir. Its year lasts 123 Earth days. It was discovered in 2009 by the Radial Velocity method.

Host star61 Vir
Distance27.7 light-years (8.50 pc)
Orbital period123 days
Orbital radius0.476 AU
Eccentricity0.350
Radius5.11 R⊕ · 0.456 R♃
Mass (minimum)22.9 M⊕ · 0.0721 M♃
Density0.943 g/cm³
Equilibrium temperature383 K (109 °C)
Stellar flux received3.55 × Earth
Discovery methodRadial Velocity
Discovery year2009
Discovered byMultiple Observatories

Habitable zone

Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 3.55 times the light the Earth does, too hot to keep liquid water on its surface.

Its star in the sky

In the planet's sky its star is a disc 1.1° across: 2 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.

In the sky

Visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (apparent magnitude 4.74). Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 72° N. South of latitude 72° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in April, the best time to observe it.

Light's journey

The light you see tonight set out around the year 1998. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 492 thousand years.

Planets in the same system

Open in the simulation

Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.