Pi Mensae b

Pi Mensae b
Exoplanet List of exoplanets
Parent star
Star Pi Mensae
Constellation Mensa
Right ascension (α) 05h 37m 09.89s
Declination (δ) –80° 28′ 08.84″
Apparent magnitude (mV) 5.67
Distance59.39 ly
(18.21 pc)
Spectral type G1IV
Orbital elements
Semi-major axis(a) 3.38±0.22[1] AU
(506 Gm)
    186 mas
Periastron (q) 1.22 AU
(182 Gm)
Apastron (Q) 5.54 AU
(830 Gm)
Eccentricity (e) 0.6405±0.0072[1]
Orbital period(P) 2151 ± 85[1] d
(5.89 ± 0.23[1] y)
Argument of
periastron		 (ω) 330.24 ± 0.67[1]°
Time of periastron (T0) 2,447,820 ± 170[1] JD
Semi-amplitude (K) 196.4 ± 1.3[1] m/s
Physical characteristics
Minimum mass(m sin i)10.27 ± 0.84[1] MJ
(3265 M⊕)
Discovery information
Discovery date 15 October 2001
Discoverer(s) Jones et al.[2]
Discovery method Doppler spectroscopy
Discovery site Australia Anglo-Australian
Telescope
Discovery status Published
Other designations
HD 39091 b
Database references
Extrasolar Planets
Encyclopaedia		data
SIMBADdata
Exoplanet Archivedata
Open Exoplanet Cataloguedata

Pi Mensae b (π Men b, π Mensae b), also known as HD 39091 b, is an extrasolar planet[1] approximately 59 light-years away in the constellation of Mensa. The planet was announced orbiting the yellow subgiant star Pi Mensae in October 2001.

Detection and discovery

On October 15, 2001, a team of astronomers including Jones, Butler, Tinney, Marcy, Penny, McCarthy, Carter, and Pourbaix announced the discovery of one of the most massive extrasolar planets have yet been observed. It was discovered by the Anglo-Australian Planet Search team, using a Doppler spectrometer mounted on the Anglo-Australian Telescope.

Physical characteristics

Pi Mensae b has a very eccentric orbit and takes 5.89 years to revolve around the star. The semi-major axis of the planet to the star is 3.38 AU while the semi-minor axis is 2.59 AU. This planet passes through the star's habitable zone at periastron (1.21 AU) while at apastron, it passes to beyond Jupiter-Sun distance (5.54 AU). The gravitational influence of this planet would disrupt the orbit of any potentially Earth-like planet.

Pi Mensae b is over ten times more massive than Jupiter,[3] the most massive planet in our solar system. It will have 10 times the surface gravity of Jupiter alone and could be incandescent (glowing). The inclination of the orbit is not known, and it could be a brown dwarf instead.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Butler; et al. (2006). "Catalog of Nearby Exoplanets". The Astrophysical Journal. 646 (1): 505–522. arXiv:astro-ph/0607493Freely accessible. Bibcode:2006ApJ...646..505B. doi:10.1086/504701.
  2. ↑ Jones H., Vogt S., Butler P., Marcy G., Fischer D., Pourbaix D., Apps K., & Laughlin G.
  3. ↑ Jones; et al. (2002). "A probable planetary companion to HD 39091 from Anglo-Australian Planet Search". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 333 (4): 871–875. arXiv:astro-ph/0112084Freely accessible. Bibcode:2002MNRAS.333..871J. doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05459.x. (web Preprint)

External links

Coordinates: 05h 37m 09.89s, −80° 28′ 08.84″

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