Wolf 1061

Star

Wolf 1061 - a red dwarf 14.0 light-years away in Ophiuchus, and one of the closest stars known to host multiple planets. Three worlds circle it; the middle one, Wolf 1061 c, sits in the star's habitable zone, where a rocky planet could in principle hold liquid water.

Open in 3D viewSee Wolf 1061 in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Mass

5.85 × 10²⁹ kg

0.294 M☉

Radius

213,580 km

31% of the Sun's radius

Surface temperature

3,342 K (3,069 °C)

Luminosity

3.90 × 10²⁴ W

Spectral type

M3.5V (red dwarf)

Science

Physical

Mass: 5.85 × 10²⁹ kg · 0.294 M☉
Radius: 213,580 km · 31% of the Sun's radius
Density: 14,328 kg/m³ · 14× water; Computed from mass and radius
Spectral type: M3.5V (red dwarf)

Motion through space

Proper motion: 1.19 arcseconds per year · its drift across our sky; SIMBAD — 2020yCat.1350....0G, 2018MNRAS.475.1960F
Radial velocity: -21.2 km/s · approaching the Sun; SIMBAD — 2020yCat.1350....0G, 2018MNRAS.475.1960F
Speed across our line of sight: 24.3 km/s; Computed from proper motion and parallax
Speed through space, relative to the Sun: 32.2 km/s; Computed from proper motion, parallax and radial velocity

Rotation

Note: A relatively quiet red dwarf, which aided the precise radial-velocity work that found its three planets in 2015.

Composition

By mass: A small hydrogen/helium red dwarf about 0.29 solar mass and ~1% of the Sun's light, 14 light-years away in Ophiuchus. Cool and long-lived, it is the kind of star most planets in the Galaxy orbit.

Temperature

Surface: 3,342 K (3,069 °C)

Radiation & temperature

Luminosity: 3.90 × 10²⁴ W · 0.0102 L☉
Surface temperature: 3,342 K (3,069 °C)
Peak wavelength: 867 nm · near-infrared (mostly invisible to the eye); Computed (Wien's law) from the surface temperature

Discovery & history

Method: Telescope
Name: A catalogue designation - the 1061st entry in Max Wolf's list of high-proper-motion stars; also GJ 628.

Cataloged by Max Wolf in the early 20th century, this nearby red dwarf was found in 2015 to host three planets by a team using ESO's HARPS spectrograph, which measured the tiny wobble the planets induce in the star's light.

Images

Where to find it — in Ophiuchus, the Serpent-Bearer (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