Wolf 1061 c
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Exoplanet Wolf 1061 c |
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| Artist's impression of Wolf 1061 c | |
| Constellation | Snake bearer |
| Position equinox : J2000.0 |
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| Right ascension | 16h 30m 18.1s |
| declination | -12 ° 39 ′ 45 ″ |
| Orbit data | |
| Central star | Wolf 1061 |
| Major semi-axis | 0.08427 ± 0.00004 AU |
| Period of circulation | 17.9 d |
| Further data | |
| radius | ≥1.64 R⊕ |
| Dimensions | ≥4.3 M⊕ |
| distance | 4.29 pc |
| history | |
| discovery |
European Southern Observatory , University of New South Wales |
Wolf 1061 c or WL 1061 c is an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf Wolf 1061 , 13.8 light-years away . It is located in the habitable zone . It is the second closest planet to the central star in its planetary system. Wolf 1061c is considered super-earth with an estimated size of more than 1.5 Earth radii .
properties
Wolf 1061 c is considered a rocky planet , as its mass and radius suggest an earth-like density. The planet orbits its central star in 17.9 days. The weight force on Wolf 1061 c would be 1.6 times stronger than on Earth due to the higher mass.
Measured in astronomical terms, the planetary system of Wolf 1061 is relatively close to Earth at 13.8 light years, which makes the planet the closest potentially habitable planet and thus interesting for astronomers.
The discovery of the planet, made possible by analysis of 10 years of data collected by HARPS , was announced on December 17, 2015.
Habitability
The assumed distance of 0.084 AU is on the inner edge of Wolf 1061's habitable zone , which ranges from 0.073 to 0.190 AU. Due to the short distance to the central star, there may be a bound rotation , which means that one side is permanently facing the star and the other side is not. Even if this would mean extreme temperature differences, the day-night boundary could be habitable, since the temperature for liquid water would be given there. In addition, an even larger part of the planet could be habitable if its atmosphere were dense enough to distribute the heat from the day side to the planet. According to the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog of the Planetary Hability Laboratory (PHL) of the University of Puerto Rico , Wolf 1061c has an ESI of 0.76 and is fourth among the exoplanets known to date.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ HEC: Exoplanets Calculator - Planetary Habitability Laboratory @ UPR Arecibo ( English ) Accessed January 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b Three planets orbiting Wolf 1061 ( English , PDF) Accessed December 17, 2015.
- ↑ a b Astronomers discover closest potentially habitable planet: Wolf 1061c ( English ) December 17, 2015. Accessed December 17, 2015.
- ↑ a b Marcus Strom: Wolf 1061c: closest planet found orbiting in a star's habitable zone 14 light years from Earth ( English ) December 17, 2015. Accessed December 17, 2015.
- ↑ Stellar habitable zone calculator ( English ) University of Washington . Retrieved December 17, 2015.
- ↑ Sarah Griffiths: Super-Earth Wolf 1061c is the closest 'habitable' planet outside our solar system ( English ) Daily Mail . Retrieved December 17, 2015.