Exoplanet · gas giant
HD 62509 b
HD 62509 b is a gas giant orbiting the star Pollux. Its year lasts 590 Earth days. It was discovered in 2006 by the Radial Velocity method.
| Host star | Pollux |
|---|---|
| Distance | 33.7 light-years (10.3 pc) |
| Orbital period | 590 days |
| Orbital radius | 1.64 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.020 |
| Radius | 13.3 R⊕ · 1.19 R♃ |
| Mass (minimum) | 731 M⊕ · 2.3 M♃ |
| Density | 1.71 g/cm³ |
| Equilibrium temperature | 550 K (276 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 15.2 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Radial Velocity |
| Discovery year | 2006 |
| Discovered by | Multiple Observatories |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 15.2 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 2.9° across: 5.4 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
Visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (apparent magnitude 1.16). Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 62° S. North of latitude 62° 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 1992. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 598 thousand years.
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.