YZ Ceti

system

YZ Ceti is a small red flare star 12.1 light-years away in Cetus, host to three of the lowest-mass planets ever found, all packed within a 5-day span. One of the nearest compact multi-planet systems.

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Key facts

Type

Red flare star (M4.5V)

Distance

12.11 light-years

Confirmed planets

Science

Classification

Type: Single red-dwarf (flare) system
Central star: YZ Ceti — M4.5V (~3150 K, ~0.14 M☉)

Planets

Confirmed planets: 3 (b, c, d)
Masses: Radial-velocity minimum masses ~0.7-1.1 Earth

Distance

Distance: 12.11 light-years

How we know

Note: Three confirmed planets, all radial-velocity minimum masses (true masses and radii unmeasured). Real distance 12.11 light-years.

Discovery & history

Name: Named for its flare-star designation YZ Ceti; also GJ 54.1.

Its three tiny planets were revealed by ESO's HARPS in 2017.

Images

Where to find it — in Cetus, the Sea Monster (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