51 Pegasi
system
51 Pegasi — a Sun-like star 50 light-years away in Pegasus, and the site of a Nobel-winning first: in 1995 its planet 51 Pegasi b became the FIRST exoplanet ever found orbiting a normal, Sun-like star — the discovery that opened the era of exoplanets. Descend to explore it.
Open in 3D viewSee 51 Pegasi in the live, interactive 3D map
Science
Classification
- Type
- Planetary system
- Distance
- ~50 light-years · its real distance from the Sun
- Explore
- Descend to see the star and its confirmed planets
How we know
- Note
- A real star system, shown at its measured position in the galaxy. Its star and confirmed planets — their measured sizes and how each was found — are on the cards inside; descend to explore them. Distances follow Gaia parallax; planet data follow the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
Discovery & history
- Name
- A Flamsteed number (51 Pegasi) in Pegasus, the Winged Horse; the star's IAU proper name is 'Helvetios'.
In October 1995 Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz detected a wobble in 51 Pegasi betraying a hot Jupiter on a 4-day orbit — the first planet known around a Sun-like star. It won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics and its planet was later named Dimidium, the first exoplanet to receive an IAU proper name.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image