51 Pegasi
From Conservapedia
51 Pegasi is a star located 50.1 light years away in the constellation Pegasus, which is known for both being very much like our own sun and for the being the first star system outside our own where an extrasolar planet was discovered, in 1995.
From Earth, the star has an apparent magnitude of 5.49 allowing it to be seen by the unaided eye under very dark conditions, or with binoculars.
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The Star
51 Pegasi is a yellow-orange main sequence star of spectral class G4-5 Va. The star is remarkably similar to our own sun, having 1.06 times the mass, 1.15 to 1.4 times the diameter, and 1.30 times the visual luminosity. The star is also 60% more abundant in elements heavier then hydrogen and helium (metallicity)[1].
The star is believed to be farther along on its path of stellar evolution and appears to be running low on its hydrogen fuel needed for stellar fusion. The star is estimated to be between 7.5 billion and 8.5 billion years of age[2].
Planets
51 Pegasi was the star where the first extrasolar world was discovered using radial-velocity methods; astronomers Michel mayor and Didier Queloz announced the discovery the Jupiter class gas giant on October 12, 1995[3]. Independent confirmation of the world came from San Francisco State University, University of California, and the Lick Observatory. The world is nicknamed "Bellerophon"[4].
The world has at least 46 percent of Jupiter’s mass and maintains a very close orbit of 0.052 AUs from its parent star. Because of how close the planet is to 51 Pegasi, its orbit only takes 4.2 days. Because of this distance, the world is tidally locked. Temperatures are estimated to be 1265K (around 1000 degrees Celsius / 1800 degrees Fahrenheit) on average.
The world is also remarkable because a world so close to its parent star was not compatible with planet formation theories at the time, and the world was considered an anomaly. Since then other such “hot Jupiters” have been discovered challenging astronomers to revise the theories of planetary formation, one way is by studying orbit migration.
A terrestrial planet that could maintain liquid water on its surface could hypothetically exist in a habitable zone that ranges from 1.2 AU to 2.0 AUs away for 51 Pegasi[5]. The star is a target for NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and the ESA's Darwin in the future.
No other worlds are known at this time.
References
- ↑ http://solstation.com/stars2/51pegasi.htm
- ↑ http://www.aip.org/baas/vol_31/030901bas.pdf
- ↑ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1995Natur.378..355M&db_key=AST&high=3b4b5e274020634
- ↑ http://jumk.de/astronomie/exoplanets/51-pegasi.shtml
- ↑ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001AAS...199.0310N&db_key=AST&high=3cab10bb0312474
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