Exoplanet · super-Earth
GJ 251 b
GJ 251 b is a super-Earth orbiting the star GJ 251. Its year lasts 14.2 Earth days. It was discovered in 2020 by the Radial Velocity method.
| Host star | GJ 251 |
|---|---|
| Distance | 18.2 light-years (5.58 pc) |
| Orbital period | 14.2 days |
| Orbital radius | 0.0808 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.000 |
| Radius | 1.79 R⊕ · 0.16 R♃ |
| Mass (minimum) | 3.85 M⊕ · 0.0121 M♃ |
| Density | 3.69 g/cm³ |
| Equilibrium temperature | 336 K (63 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 2.37 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Radial Velocity |
| Discovery year | 2020 |
| Discovered by | W. M. Keck Observatory |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 2.37 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 2.4° across: 4.5 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 9.89. Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 57° S. North of latitude 57° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in January, the best time to observe it.
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 2008. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 323 thousand years.
Planets in the same system
- GJ 251 c 53.6-day orbit · 1.8 R⊕
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.