Gliese 581 e
Planet· orbits the Sun
Gliese 581 e - the innermost and lightest confirmed planet (~2.5 Earth masses), a hot rocky world on a 3.1-day orbit. Never imaged.
Open in 3D viewSee Gliese 581 e in the live, interactive 3D map
Key facts
Mass
1.48 × 10²⁵ kg
2.48 M⊕
Year
3.15 Earth days
Distance from Gliese 581
4,188,740 km
Science
Physical
- Mass
- 1.48 × 10²⁵ kg · 2.48 M⊕
- Radius
- Not measured
Orbital
- Semi-major axis
- 4,188,740 km
- Eccentricity
- 0.01
- Inclination
- 0.00 °
- Orbital period
- 3.1 days
- Perihelion
- 4,146,853 km
- Aphelion
- 4,230,628 km
- Mean orbital velocity
- 96.8 km/s
Composition
- Bulk composition
- Presumed rocky (~2.5 Earth masses); never imaged.
- Surface appearance
- Appearance based on ESO/M. Kornmesser's artist's concept. No spacecraft has imaged this world, so its real appearance is unknown — The surface shown is an artistic representation, shown only in Vision mode; Realism shows a plain spectral colour.
Radiation & temperature
- Insolation
- 15.8 S⊕ · 15.8× the sunlight Earth receives
- Equilibrium temperature
- 554 K (281 °C)
Discovery & history
- Method
- Radial-velocity detection (stellar wobble)
- Name
- Designated 'e' as the first planet found around its star, following the IAU convention of lettering planets in discovery order from 'b'.
Announced in 2009 - at the time among the lowest-mass planets known around any main-sequence star.
Images
No official imagery available — this object has never been visited and no officially-licensed depiction exists.