Gliese 876 c
Planet· orbits Gliese 876
Gliese 876 c - the inner of the two gas giants (~0.7 Jupiter masses), on a 30-day orbit. With planets b and e it forms the resonant chain. Never imaged.
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Key facts
Mass
1.36 × 10²⁷ kg
0.714 M♃ (227 M⊕)
Year
30.09 Earth days
Distance from Gliese 876
0.13 AU
Science
Physical
- Mass
- 1.36 × 10²⁷ kg · 0.714 M♃ (227 M⊕)
- Radius
- Not measured
- No transit — radius is a model estimate for a ~0.7-Jupiter gas giant; density needs a measured radius, so none is quoted.
Orbital
- Semi-major axis
- 0.13 AU
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Eccentricity
- 0.256
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Inclination
- 0.00 °
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Orbital period
- 30.1 days
- From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (radial-velocity orbit)
- Perihelion
- 14,424,586 km
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Aphelion
- 0.163 AU
- Computed from the orbital elements
- Mean orbital velocity
- 46.9 km/s
- Computed from the orbital elements
Composition
- Bulk composition
- A gas giant of true (dynamical) mass ~0.7 Jupiter — hydrogen and helium; 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
- 0.738 S⊕ · 74% of the sunlight Earth receives
- Computed from Gliese 876's luminosity and the orbital distance (inverse-square; Earth's sunlight = 1).
- Equilibrium temperature
- 242 K (-31 °C)
- Computed model value for its 30-day orbit — not measured.
Discovery & history
- Method
- Radial-velocity detection (stellar wobble)
- Name
- Designated 'c' 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').
The second giant found here (2001); its gravitational dance with planet b revealed the system's resonance.
Images
No official imagery available — this object has never been visited and no officially-licensed depiction exists.