Gliese 251

Gliese 251

system

Gliese 251 is a red dwarf 18.2 light-years away in Gemini. Two planets circle it; the inner is a temperate super-Earth, among the nearer such worlds to the Sun. Both masses are radial-velocity minimums.

Open in 3D viewSee Gliese 251 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Type
Red dwarf + 2 planets
Distance
18.2 light-years
Confirmed planets
2
Notable
Nearby temperate super-Earth

Science

Classification

Type
Single red-dwarf system
Central star
Gliese 251 — M3.0V red dwarf (~3342 K, 0.35 M☉)

Planets

Confirmed planets
2 · b (temperate super-Earth) and c
Masses
Radial-velocity minimums (m·sin i)

Distance

Distance
18.2 light-years · in Gemini

How we know

Note
Two confirmed planets (NASA Exoplanet Archive, checked 2026-07-07): b (2020) and c (2025), both radial-velocity detections — minimum masses, no measured sizes. Map distance is symbolic; the real gap is 18.2 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name
A catalogue designation (Gliese 251); also Wolf 294.

Its temperate super-Earth was announced by the CARMENES survey in 2020; a second planet was confirmed in 2025.

Images

Where to find it — in Gemini, the Twins (IAU constellation chart). To the eye it is a single point of light; no telescope has imaged its surface.
IAU / Sky & Telescope, R. Sinnott & R. Fienberg (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image