Exoplanet · Neptune-like planet
AU Mic b
AU Mic b is a Neptune-like planet orbiting the star AU Mic. Its year lasts 8.46 Earth days. It was discovered in 2020 by the Transit method.
| Host star | AU Mic |
|---|---|
| Distance | 31.7 light-years (9.72 pc) |
| Orbital period | 8.46 days |
| Orbital radius | 0.07 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.070 |
| Radius | 4.79 R⊕ · 0.427 R♃ |
| Mass | 8.99 M⊕ · 0.0283 M♃ |
| Density | 0.49 g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 0.392 × Earth |
| Equilibrium temperature | 555 K (282 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 21.2 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Transit |
| Discovery year | 2020 |
| Discovered by | Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 21.2 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 6.6° across: 12 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
Too faint for the naked eye (magnitude 8.81); binoculars will find it. Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 59° N. South of latitude 59° S it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 1994. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 563 thousand years.
Planets in the same system
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.