Lalande 21185

system

Lalande 21185 is the brightest red dwarf in the northern sky and one of the Sun's closest neighbours, 8.3 light-years away in Ursa Major. An M2V star about 39% of the Sun's mass, it hosts two confirmed planets found from its radial-velocity wobble.

Open in 3D viewSee Lalande 21185 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Type

Red dwarf + 2 planets

Distance

8.30 light-years

Confirmed planets

Science

Classification

Type: Single red-dwarf system
Central star: Lalande 21185 — M2V red dwarf (~3720 K, ~0.39 M☉)

Planets

Confirmed planets: 2 · b (a warm super-Earth) and c (a cold, more massive world)
Masses: Radial-velocity minimum masses (~2.7 and ~13.6 Earth)

Distance

Distance: 8.30 light-years · one of the closest star systems to the Sun

How we know

Note: Both planets were found by radial velocity (2019 and 2021), so their listed masses are MINIMUM masses and their radii are model estimates — neither has transited or been imaged. The map position is symbolic; the real distance is 8.30 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name: Named for the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande and its 1801 catalogue number.

Recorded by Jérôme Lalande around 1801; its two planets were confirmed by precise radial-velocity surveys in 2019 and 2021.

Images

Where to find it — in Ursa Major, the Great Bear (IAU constellation chart). It is an unresolved point of light; its surface has never been imaged. — IAU / Sky & Telescope, R. Sinnott & R. Fienberg (CC BY 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image