Exoplanet · gas giant
tau Boo b
tau Boo b is a gas giant orbiting the star τ Boo. Its year lasts 3.31 Earth days. It was discovered in 1996 by the Radial Velocity method.
| Host star | τ Boo |
|---|---|
| Distance | 51.1 light-years (15.7 pc) |
| Orbital period | 3.31 days |
| Orbital radius | 0.049 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.011 |
| Radius | 12.8 R⊕ · 1.14 R♃ |
| Mass | 1,890 M⊕ · 5.95 M♃ |
| Density | 4.95 g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 11.5 × Earth |
| Equilibrium temperature | 1,682 K (1,409 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 1,330 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Radial Velocity |
| Discovery year | 1996 |
| Discovered by | Lick Observatory |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 1,330 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 15° across: 29 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
Visible to the naked eye under a dark sky (apparent magnitude 4.50). Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 73° S. North of latitude 73° N 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 1975. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 906 thousand years.
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.