Astronomy:HD 156668 b

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Short description: Exoplanet that orbits the star HD 156668 in the constellation of Hercules


HD 156668 b
Discovery
Discovered byHoward et al.
Discovery siteKeck Observatory
Discovery date2010-01-06
Doppler Spectroscopy
Orbital characteristics
0.04998 ± 0.00083 AU (7,477,000 ± 124,000 km)[1]
Eccentricity0.000[2]
Orbital period4.6455 ± 0.0011[1] d
0[2]
Semi-amplitude1.89 ± 0.26 [1]
StarHD 156668


HD 156668 b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star HD 156668 78.5 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It has a minimum mass of 3.1 Earth masses. At the time of discovery it was the second least massive planet discovered by the radial velocity method after Gliese 581 e, subject to the mass/inclination degeneracy that affects radial velocity measurements.[3] In addition to this, it has the lowest semi-amplitude, or the speed of the stellar wobble caused by planet's gravity tugging on the star determined by radial velocity, at 2.2 m/s.[3] This planet was discovered on January 6, 2010; it is the 8th planet discovered in 2010 after the first five planets detected by Kepler on January 4 and two planets around HD 9446 on January 5.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andrew W. Howard; John Asher Johnson; Geoffrey W. Marcy; Debra A. Fischer; Jason T. Wright; Gregory W. Henry; Howard Isaacson; Jeff A. Valenti et al. (2010). "The NASA-UC Eta-Earth Program: II. A Planet Orbiting HD 156668 with a Minimum Mass of Four Earth Masses". The Astrophysical Journal 726 (2): 73. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/726/2/73. Bibcode2011ApJ...726...73H. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Dawson, Rebekah I.; Fabrycky, Daniel C. (2010). "Radial velocity planets de-aliased. A new, short period for Super-Earth 55 Cnc e". The Astrophysical Journal 722 (1): 937–953. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/722/1/937. Bibcode2010ApJ...722..937D. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Second Smallest Exoplanet Found To Date At Keck". W.M. Keck Observatory. 2010-01-07. http://keckobservatory.org/index.php/news/second_smallest_exoplanet_to_date_discovered_at_keck/.