Beta Pictoris b
Planet· orbits Beta Pictoris
Beta Pictoris b — a giant planet of about 11 Jupiter masses orbiting at ~10 AU (a 24-year orbit), DIRECTLY IMAGED in 2008 sweeping through its star's debris disk. Young and hot from formation, it glows in the infrared — which is how it was photographed. Its size and mass are model estimates, so no density is quoted.
Open in 3D viewSee Beta Pictoris b in the live, interactive 3D map
Key facts
Mass
2.09 × 10²⁸ kg
11 M♃ (3,497 M⊕)
Year
23.8 Earth years
8,682 Earth days
Distance from Beta Pictoris
10.1 AU
Science
Physical
- Mass
- 2.09 × 10²⁸ kg · 11 M♃ (3,497 M⊕)
- Radius
- Not measured
- Directly imaged, never transited: the ~11 Jupiter mass and ~1.6 Jupiter-radii size are model estimates from its brightness and youth, so no density is quoted.
Orbital
- Semi-major axis
- 10.1 AU
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (direct imaging + orbit fit)
- Eccentricity
- 0.105
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (direct imaging + orbit fit)
- Inclination
- 0.00 °
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (direct imaging + orbit fit)
- Orbital period
- 23.77 years
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (direct imaging + orbit fit)
- Perihelion
- 9.01 AU
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Aphelion
- 11.1 AU
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Mean orbital velocity
- 12.6 km/s
- Computed from the orbital elements
Composition
- Bulk composition
- A young gas giant of about 11 Jupiter masses at ~10 AU, still hot from formation and glowing in the infrared — which is how it was photographed in 2008, embedded in its star's debris disk. Hydrogen/helium; true appearance unresolved.
- Cloud appearance
- Appearance based on NASA/JPL-Caltech's artist's concept. No spacecraft has imaged this world, so its real appearance is unknown — The banded clouds shown are a representation of its class, shown only in Visual mode; Realism shows a plain spectral colour.
Radiation & temperature
- Insolation
- 0.0885 S⊕ · 9% of the sunlight Earth receives
- Computed from Beta Pictoris's luminosity and the orbital distance (inverse-square; Earth's sunlight = 1).
Discovery & history
- Method
- Directly imaged
- Name
- Designated 'b' under the IAU planet-lettering convention; no IAU proper name.
Directly imaged in 2008 (VLT/ESO) — one of the first planets ever photographed, and the clearest case of a young giant caught inside a forming debris disk.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image