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Uncommon exoplanet 26 EP

HD 48948 b

RA 102.4898° · Dec 60.3373° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
26 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Sub-Neptune +5
Total score 26

8 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Sub-Neptune · +5
  • Tidally locked · +10
  • Multi-planet system · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Hugging its star. It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.
  • What it is made of. Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 3 planets orbiting its star.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Inside our stellar backyard: every radio broadcast humanity has ever made has already swept past it.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 8.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in.
  • Never sets. So far north that from Britain, Canada or northern Europe it never dips below the horizon — it is up every clear night of the year.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around January — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

density gcc
3.07
diameter km
26277.772
discovery facility
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2024
dist ly
55.1344
eccentricity
0.055
eq temp k
957
host star teff
4593
insolation
138.85
mag
8.58
mass earth
4.88
name
HD 48948 b
orbital period days
7.3401
radius earth
2.06
semi major au
0.0652
spect
K3 V
sys num planets
3
sys num stars
1
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About HD 48948 b

HD 48948 b is an uncommon exoplanet. It lies about 55.1 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 8.58, has spectral type K3 V and has an equilibrium temperature near 957 K.

It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 8.58, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 48948 b is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why HD 48948 b is an uncommon exoplanet

HD 48948 b scores 26 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 8 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Sub-Neptune, Tidally locked and Multi-planet system — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.