Astronomy:61 Virginis
61 Virginis (abbreviated 61 Vir) is a G-type main-sequence star (G7V) slightly less massive than the Sun (which has a hotter G2V spectral type), located 27.8 light-years (8.5 parsecs) away in the constellation of Virgo. The composition of this star is nearly identical to the Sun.
Description

61 Virginis is a fifth-magnitude G-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of G7 V.[3] It is faint but visible to the naked eye in the zodiac constellation of Virgo, close to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation.[9] The designation 61 Virginis originated in the star catalogue of English astronomer John Flamsteed, as part of his Historia Coelestis Britannica. An 1835 account of Flamsteed's work by English astronomer Francis Baily noted that the star showed a proper motion.[10] This made the star of interest for parallax studies, and by 1950 a mean annual value of 0.006″ was obtained, resulting in an distance of 170 pc (550 ly).[11][lower-alpha 1] The present day result, obtained with data from the Gaia satellite, gives a parallax of 117.17 mas (0.117"),[12] which corresponds to a distance of 8.534 pc (27.83 ly).
This star is similar in physical properties to the Sun, with around 93% of the Sun's mass,[5] 99% of the radius, and 82% of the luminosity.[6] The abundance of elements is also similar to the Sun, with the star having 101% of the Sun's proportion of iron to hydrogen.[5] It is older than the Sun, around 7.7 billion years old,[5] and is spinning with a leisurely projected rotational velocity of 4 km/s at the equator.[8] On average, there is only a low level of activity in the stellar chromosphere[13] and it is a candidate for being in a Maunder minimum state,[14] but it was suspected as variable in 1988,[15] and a burst of activity was observed between Julian days [24]54800 (29 November 2008) and 55220 (23 January 2010).[16]
The space velocity components of this star are U = –37.9, V = –35.3 and W = –24.7 km/s. 61 Vir is orbiting through the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of 6.9 kpc from the core, with an eccentricity of 0.15. It is believed to be a member of the disk population.[17][18]
Planetary system

On 14 December 2009, scientists announced the discovery of three exoplanets with minimum masses between 5 and 25 times that of Earth orbiting 61 Virginis, using the radial velocity method at the Keck and Anglo-Australian Observatories.[19][20] The three planets all orbit very near the star; when compared to the orbits of the planets in the Solar System, all three would orbit inside that of Venus. The two outer planets likely resemble Uranus and Neptune, while the innermost planet may be a mini-Neptune or a rocky super-Earth.
The outermost of these three planets, 61 Virginis d (also designated HD 115617 d), was initially not detected in the HARPS data as of 2012 until a reanalysis of the data was done in 2023.[21] A 2021 study listed it as a false positive,[22]: 75 but in 2023 two published studies further confirmed it based on an additional 10 years of radial velocity data, though with a smaller minimum mass.[23]: 23 [21]: 13
Assuming the planets are aligned with the disk around the star, 61 Virginis b, c and d should have masses of 6.3, 19.8 and 12.6 M⊕.[24][lower-alpha 2]
Debris disk
The ecliptic of the 61 Virginis system, as inferred from its dust disc, is inclined to the Solar System at 77°. The star itself is probably inclined at 72°.[16]
A survey with the Spitzer Space Telescope revealed an excess of infrared radiation at a wavelength of 160 μm. This indicated the presence of a debris disk in orbit around the star. This disk was resolved at 70 μm. It was then thought to correspond to an inner radius of 96 AU from the star and outer radius at 195 AU; it is now constrained 30 to over 100 AU.[16] The total mass of the disk is 5 × 10−5 the mass of the Earth.[16][25]
On 27 November 2012, the European Space Agency declared that the debris disc (like that of the Gliese 581 planetary system) has "at least 10 times" as many comets as does the Solar System's Kuiper belt.[26]
Limits on additional planets
In 1988, a study surmised that 61 Virginis was a "possible variable", but no companions were then found.[15] A subsequent study, over eleven years, also failed to find any companion up to the mass of Jupiter and out to 3 AU.[27]
As of 2012, "planets more massive than Saturn orbiting within 6 AU" were ruled out.[16] The ESA has found no evidence for Saturn-mass planets beyond that.[26]
Additional data is needed to confirm the possibility of more sub-Saturn planets between 0.5 and 30 AU from the star.[16] An Earth-mass planet in the star's habitable zone (which would still be too small to detect with current technology) remains possible.
| Companion (in order from star) |
Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) |
Orbital period (days) |
Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | ≥6.11±0.24 M⊕ | 0.050±0.001 | 4.2150±0.0001 | 0.11±0.03 | — | — |
| c | ≥19.33±0.70 M⊕ | 0.216±0.004 | 38.073±0.003 | 0.07±0.01 | — | — |
| d | ≥12.24±0.59 M⊕ | 0.47±0.01 | 123.12±0.08 | 0.12±0.03 | — | — |
| Debris disk | 30–>100 AU | 77° | — | |||
View from 61 Virginis
The Sun is visible from the system as a magnitude 4.50 star[28] close to the stars Hamal, Beta Arietis and Alpha Centauri. Arcturus (magnitude −1.01) is the brightest star of the night sky.[29]
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Vallenari, A. et al. (2022). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243940 Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
- ↑ Oja, T. (1993). "UBV photometry of stars whose positions are accurately known. VII.". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series 100: 591. Bibcode: 1993A&AS..100..591O.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gray, R. O. et al. (October 2003), "Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.", The Astronomical Journal 126 (4): 2048–2059, doi:10.1086/378365, Bibcode: 2003AJ....126.2048G
- ↑ Holmberg, J. et al. (July 2009), "The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the solar neighbourhood. III. Improved distances, ages, and kinematics", Astronomy and Astrophysics 501 (3): 941–947, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200811191, Bibcode: 2009A&A...501..941H.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Rathsam, Anne; Meléndez, Jorge; Carvalho Silva, Gabriela (2023-09-01). "Lithium depletion in solar analogs: age and mass effects" (in en). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 525 (3): 4642–4656. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad2589. ISSN 0035-8711. Bibcode: 2023MNRAS.525.4642R.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 von Braun, Kaspar et al. (2014). "Stellar diameters and temperatures - V. 11 newly characterized exoplanet host stars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 438 (3): 2413–2425. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt2360. Bibcode: 2014MNRAS.438.2413V.
- ↑ Yu, Haochuan et al. (March 2024). "Modelling stellar variability in archival HARPS data: I - Rotation and activity properties with multidimensional Gaussian processes". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 528 (4): 5511–5527. doi:10.1093/mnras/stae137. Bibcode: 2024MNRAS.528.5511Y.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ammler-von Eiff, Matthias; Reiners, Ansgar (June 2012), "New measurements of rotation and differential rotation in A-F stars: are there two populations of differentially rotating stars?", Astronomy & Astrophysics 542: A116, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118724, Bibcode: 2012A&A...542A.116A.
- ↑ "61 Virginis - Star in Virgo | TheSkyLive.com". https://theskylive.com/sky/stars/61-virginis-star.
- ↑ Baily, Francis, ed (1835). An Account of the Revd. John Flamsteed, the First Astronomer- Royal. By order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. p. 588. https://archive.org/details/anaccountrevdjo00bailgoog.
- ↑ Staff (1950). "Stars, Parallax of: Stellar parallaxes determined photographically at the Cape Observatory (seventeenth list)". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 110 (4): 405–412. doi:10.1093/mnras/110.4.405. Bibcode: 1950MNRAS.110..405..
- ↑ van Leeuwen, F. (November 2007), "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction", Astronomy and Astrophysics 474 (2): 653–664, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357, Bibcode: 2007A&A...474..653V
- ↑ Perrin, M.-N.; Cayrel de Strobel, G.; Dennefeld, M. (February 1988), "High S/N detailed spectral analysis of four G and K dwarfs within 10 PC of the sun", Astronomy and Astrophysics 191 (2): 237–247, Bibcode: 1988A&A...191..237P
- ↑ Lubin, Dan; Tytler, David; Kirkman, David (March 2012). "Frequency of Maunder Minimum Events in Solar-type Stars Inferred from Activity and Metallicity Observations". The Astrophysical Journal Letters 747 (2): L32. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/747/2/L32. Bibcode: 2012ApJ...747L..32L.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Campbell, Bruce et al. (1988). "A search for substellar companions to solar-type stars". Astrophysical Journal 331: 902–921. doi:10.1086/166608. Bibcode: 1988ApJ...331..902C., pages 904, 906, and 919
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 Wyatt, M. C. et al. (2012). "Herschel imaging of 61 Vir: implications for the prevalence of debris in low-mass planetary systems". MNRAS 424 (2): 1206–1223. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21298.x. Bibcode: 2012MNRAS.424.1206W.
- ↑ Porto de Mello, Gustavo; del Peloso, Eduardo F.; Ghezzi, Luan (April 2006). "Astrobiologically Interesting Stars Within 10 Parsecs of the Sun". Astrobiology 6 (2): 308–331. doi:10.1089/ast.2006.6.308. PMID 16689649. Bibcode: 2006AsBio...6..308P.
- ↑ Mamajek, Eric E.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A. (November 2008). "Improved Age Estimation for Solar-Type Dwarfs Using Activity-Rotation Diagnostics". The Astrophysical Journal 687 (2): 1264–1293. doi:10.1086/591785. Bibcode: 2008ApJ...687.1264M.
- ↑ Vogt, Steven; Wittenmyer; Paul Butler; Simon O'Toole; Henry; Rivera; Stefano Meschiari; Gregory Laughlin et al. (2010). "A Super-Earth and two Neptunes Orbiting the Nearby Sun-like star 61 Virginis". The Astrophysical Journal 708 (2): 1366–1375. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/708/2/1366. Bibcode: 2010ApJ...708.1366V.
- ↑ Tim Stephens (2009-12-14). "New planet discoveries suggest low-mass planets are common around nearby stars". UCSC News. UC Santa Cruz. http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=3439.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Cretignier, M.; Dumusque, X.; Aigrain, S.; Pepe, F. (18 August 2023). "YARARA V2: Reaching sub m/s precision over a decade using PCA on line-by-line RVs". Astronomy & Astrophysics (EDP Sciences) 678: A2. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202347232. ISSN 0004-6361.
- ↑ Rosenthal, Lee J.; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Hirsch, Lea A.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Howard, Andrew W.; Dedrick, Cayla M.; Sherstyuk, Ilya A.; Blunt, Sarah C. et al. (2021). "The California Legacy Survey. I. A Catalog of 178 Planets from Precision Radial Velocity Monitoring of 719 Nearby Stars over Three Decades". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 255 (1): 8. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/abe23c. Bibcode: 2021ApJS..255....8R.
- ↑ Laliotis, Katherine et al. (April 2023). "Doppler Constraints on Planetary Companions to Nearby Sun-like Stars: An Archival Radial Velocity Survey of Southern Targets for Proposed NASA Direct Imaging Missions". The Astronomical Journal 165 (4): 176. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/acc067. Bibcode: 2023AJ....165..176L.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 Bisht, Deepak; Jones, Hugh R. A. (November 2024). "Radial velocity analysis of stars with debris discs". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 534 (3): 2105–2118. doi:10.1093/mnras/stae2223. Bibcode: 2024MNRAS.534.2105B.
- ↑ Tanner, Angelle (October 2009). "Survey of Nearby FGK Stars at 160 μm with Spitzer". The Astrophysical Journal 704 (1): 109–116. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/704/1/109. Bibcode: 2009ApJ...704..109T.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 ESA Herschel (27 November 2012). "Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts?". http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Herschel/SEMVDXDQZ9H_0.html.
- ↑ Cumming, Andrew; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Butler, R. Paul (1999). "The Lick Planet Search: Detectability and Mass Thresholds". Astrophysical Journal 526 (2): 890–915. doi:10.1086/308020. Bibcode: 1999ApJ...526..890C.
- ↑ Calculated from the Sun's absolute magnitude of +4.83 and 61 Virginis' distance from the Sun of 8.53 parsecs, by the equation Mapparent = Mabsolute−5+5
Slovene pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Thai pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Neukirch, Jürgen; Schmidt, Alexander; Wingberg, Kay (2000), Cohomology of Number Fields, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, 323, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-66671-4Template:ScribuntoPersian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
This page may be too long to read and navigate comfortably.! rowspan="3" colspan="2" width="14%" style="border-bottom:2px solid grey;" | Date/Time (UTC) ! Configuration ! Serial number ! Launch site ! Outcome |-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Payload |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Separation orbit |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Operator |style="text-align:center;background-color:#e3e9e9;" | Function |- | colspan="4" style="text-align:center;background-color:#e4dfdf;border-bottom:2px solid grey;" | Remarks |-
Parameter 1=time required!Hawaiian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Dutch pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Belarusian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Catalan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}Mongolian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Javanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
This template does not display in the mobile view of Wikipedia; it is desktop only. See Template:Navbox visibility for a brief explanation. This is a navigational template created using {{navbox}}. It can be transcluded on pages by placing
{{61 Virginis}}below the standard article appendices.Initial visibility
This template's initial visibility currently defaults to
autocollapse, meaning that if there is another collapsible item on the page (a navbox, sidebar, or table with the collapsible attribute), it is hidden apart from its title bar; if not, it is fully visible.To change this template's initial visibility, the
|state=parameter may be used:{{61 Virginis|state=collapsed}}will show the template collapsed, i.e. hidden apart from its title bar.{{61 Virginis|state=expanded}}will show the template expanded, i.e. fully visible.
Templates using the classes
class=navbox({{navbox}}) orclass=nomobile({{sidebar}}) are not displayed in article space on the mobile web site of English Wikipedia. Mobile page views accounted for 60% to 70% of all page views from 2020 through 2025. Briefly, these templates are not included in articles because 1) they are not well designed for mobile, and 2) they significantly increase page sizes—bad for mobile downloads—in a way that is not useful for the mobile use case. You can review/watch phab:T124168 for further discussion.TemplateData
A navigational box that can be placed at the bottom of articles.
Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter Description Type Status State stateThe initial visibility of the navbox
- Suggested values
collapsedexpandedautocollapse
String suggested Template transclusions
Transclusion maintenance Check completeness of transclusions
Not doneLatin pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
| rowspan="1" colspan="2" style="border-top:2px solid #aabbcc;" |
| style="border-top:2px solid #aabbcc;" | | style="border-top:2px solid #aabbcc;" | | style="border-top:2px solid #aabbcc;" | | style="border-top:2px solid #aabbcc;" |
|-
|-
Vietnamese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Piedmontese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Slovak pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]text-align: auto;Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{"./Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{". (age Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".–Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{".)Occitan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | VariesHejazi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Spanish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Portuguese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Irish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mayan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Nahuatl pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kyrgyz pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Ukrainian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Burmese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]-4500 —–-4000 —–-3500 —–-3000 —–-2500 —–-2000 —–-1500 —–-1000 —–-500 —–0 —
Done
To doRussian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Greek pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
Danish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Northern Sami pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Mandarin pronunciation: [{{{ipa}}}]Cantonese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Entry from 61 Virginis from TCI Europe, retrieved on {{{Date}}}Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "[[s:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen/|]]". A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Glasgow: Blackie and Son.{{{1}}}Polish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Malagasy pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Japanese pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Armenian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Czech pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]∶Manx pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/full/{{{1}}}/0 Alemannic German pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tagalog pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]French pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Error: Invalid time.
This template does not display in the mobile view of Wikipedia; it is desktop only. See Template:Navbox visibility for a brief explanation. This is a navigational template created using {{navbox}}. It can be transcluded on pages by placing
{{61 Virginis}}below the standard article appendices.Initial visibility
This template's initial visibility currently defaults to
autocollapse, meaning that if there is another collapsible item on the page (a navbox, sidebar, or table with the collapsible attribute), it is hidden apart from its title bar; if not, it is fully visible.To change this template's initial visibility, the
|state=parameter may be used:{{61 Virginis|state=collapsed}}will show the template collapsed, i.e. hidden apart from its title bar.{{61 Virginis|state=expanded}}will show the template expanded, i.e. fully visible.
Templates using the classes
class=navbox({{navbox}}) orclass=nomobile({{sidebar}}) are not displayed in article space on the mobile web site of English Wikipedia. Mobile page views accounted for 60% to 70% of all page views from 2020 through 2025. Briefly, these templates are not included in articles because 1) they are not well designed for mobile, and 2) they significantly increase page sizes—bad for mobile downloads—in a way that is not useful for the mobile use case. You can review/watch phab:T124168 for further discussion.TemplateData
A navigational box that can be placed at the bottom of articles.
Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter Description Type Status State stateThe initial visibility of the navbox
- Suggested values
collapsedexpandedautocollapse
String suggested
In progressPalomares, M. L. D. and Pauly, D., eds. (2011). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in SeaLifeBase. April 2011 version.Turkish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Finnish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "{{{1}}} {{{2}}}" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
|- | ... | — | — | — | — | — | —
|-Old Norse pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Salish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Basque pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]{{{1}}}data-sort-value="" style="background: #ececec; color: #2C2C2C; vertical-align: middle; font-size: smaller; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | UnreleasedNorwegian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}] (aged {{{4}}})Hungarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Quechua pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Arabic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Punjabi pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Afrikaans pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Romanian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hebrew pronunciation: [{{{1}}}][INVALID OR MISSING PARAMETER IN TEMPLATE 61 Virginis]Uto-Aztecan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tamil pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Hindustani pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Swedish pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Kazakh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Lao pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Tibetan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Khmer pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]data-sort-value="" style="vertical-align:middle; text-align:center" class="table-na" | —{{{1}}}Welsh pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]
Partially doneAthabaskan pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Māori pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]IPA: [{{{1}}}]Bulgarian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Korean pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Icelandic pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Sanskrit pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Bengali pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Indonesian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [{{{1}}}]CROSBI {{{1}}}logd.
- ↑ "The Chronicles of Local Space – 61 Virginis". http://www.bdm.id.au/localspace/systems/506.html.
External links
- Jean Schneider (2011). "Notes for star 61 Vir". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. http://exoplanet.eu/star.php?st=61+Vir. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- 61 Virginis at SolStation
- Systemic Blog article with comparative map of orbits of 61 Vir b, c and d
- Aladin image of 61 Virginis
Coordinates:
13h 18m 24.3s, −18° 18′ 40.3″
