Artist's impression of the newly discovered planetary system Gliese 581

After more than four years of observations using the most successful low-mass exoplanet hunter in the world, the HARPS spectrograph attached to the 3.6-metre ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile, astronomers have discovered in this system the lightest exoplanet found so far: Gliese 581e (foreground) is only about twice the mass of our Earth. The Gliese 581 planetary system now has four known planets, with masses of about 1.9 (planet e, left in the foreground), 16 (planet b, nearest to the star), 5 (planet c, centre), and 7 Earth-masses (planet d, with the bluish colour). The planet furthest out, Gliese 581d, orbits its host star in 66.8 days, while Gliese 581 e completes its orbit in 3.15 days.

Crediti:

ESO/L. Calçada

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Identificazione:eso0915a
Tipo:Illustrazione
Data di rilascio:21 Aprile 2009
Notizie relative:eso0915
Grandezza:15000 x 9375 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:Gliese 581
Tipo:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Distanza:20 Anni luce
Categoria:Exoplanets
Illustrations

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