Sunday, November 22, 2009

51 Pegasi

Star type
g G2-3 V

Distance from Earth
g 50.1 ly

Star Service No.
g NA

Age
g 6.1-8.1 billion years

Radius/Mass/Temp (xSol)
g 123.7% ; 110%; 5571 K

Brightness (xSol)
g 133%

Metallicity (xSol)
g 20%

Comparison to Sol
g NA

Picture of star
g NA

Star system features
g First extra-solar planet discovered; it’s unofficially called Bellerophon

Known planets
g Bellerophon (aka known as 51 Pegasi b): A protoytpe hot Jupiter, the tidally locked planet orbits star once every 4.230785 days. Its mass is about half that of Jupiter and 150 x Earth. The average temperature of the gas giant is about 1800 F. The planet probably has a greater radius than Jupiter despite a lower mass because the superheated atmosphere must be puffed up into a thick but tenuous layer surrounding it. Beneath this, the gases that make up the planet would be so hot that the planet would glow red. Clouds of silicates may exist in the atmosphere.

Habitable zone
g NA

Orbital map
g NA

View from star
g NA

Nearby stars
(Star systems with 10 light years)
g NA

Map locating star system
g NA

Location in Earth sky
g In constellation Pegasus

Other names
g Gliese 882, HD 217014, HIP 113357, HR 8729

Sci-fi mentions
g Hal Clement, in "Exchange Rate", presumes the planet is a rocky world rather than a gas giant (this is in line with astronomers' initial beliefs that the planet was a silicate body).

Get your SF book manuscript edited

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