Gliese 687 b
Planet· orbits Gliese 687
Gliese 687 b - a Neptune-like planet (minimum mass ~17 Earth) on a 38-day orbit. Found by radial velocity, so its mass is a minimum and its size is a model estimate; never imaged.
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Key facts
Minimum mass
1.03 × 10²⁶ kg
17.2 M⊕
Year
38.14 Earth days
Distance from Gliese 687
0.163 AU
Science
Physical
- Minimum mass (m·sin i)
- 1.03 × 10²⁶ kg · 17.2 M⊕
- Radial-velocity detection measures m·sin i; the true mass depends on the unknown orbital inclination.
- Radius
- Not measured
- No transit — radius is a model estimate for a ~17-Earth-mass Neptune; true size unknown.
Orbital
- Semi-major axis
- 0.163 AU
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Eccentricity
- 0.17
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Inclination
- 0.00 °
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Orbital period
- 38.1 days
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Perihelion
- 0.135 AU
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Aphelion
- 0.191 AU
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Mean orbital velocity
- 46.5 km/s
- Computed from the orbital elements
Composition
- Bulk composition
- A Neptune-class planet of minimum mass ~17 Earth; found from the star's wobble, never imaged.
- Cloud appearance
- Appearance based on ESO/M. Kornmesser'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
- 0.801 S⊕ · 80% of the sunlight Earth receives
- Computed from Gliese 687's luminosity and the orbital distance (inverse-square; Earth's sunlight = 1).
- Equilibrium temperature
- 264 K (-9 °C)
- Computed model value for its 38-day orbit — not measured.
Discovery & history
- Method
- Radial-velocity detection (stellar wobble)
- Name
- Designated 'b' under the IAU convention that letters a star's planets 'b', 'c', 'd'... in the order they are discovered (the star itself is the unwritten 'a').
Discovered in 2014 from radial-velocity data as a nearby Neptune-mass planet.
Images
No official imagery available — this object has never been visited and no officially-licensed depiction exists.