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Epic exoplanet 53 EP

HD 108874 b

RA 187.6126° · Dec 22.8794° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
53 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • In the habitable zone +30
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 53

25 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • In the habitable zone · +30
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Goldilocks zone. Sits where it's neither too hot nor too cold — liquid water could exist on a surface here.

Hard to believe

  • It would float. It is less dense than water. Drop it in a big enough ocean and the whole world would bob on the surface.

What it actually is

  • What it is made of. Lighter than Neptune — a puffed-up ball of hydrogen and helium with no surface anywhere on it to stand on.
  • What the zone means. The habitable zone is only about temperature: it is the band where liquid water could survive on a surface. It is a promising address, not evidence of anything living.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 2 planets orbiting its star.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 8.8 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.

Properties

density gcc
0.986
diameter km
173484.32
discovery facility
W. M. Keck Observatory
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2002
dist ly
194.1199
eccentricity
0.13
eq temp k
271.33
habitable zone
yes
host star teff
5600
insolation
0.923
mag
8.76
mass earth
451.3186
name
HD 108874 b
orbital period days
394.4812
radius earth
13.6
semi major au
1.04
spect
G5
sys num planets
2
sys num stars
1

Nearby objects

About HD 108874 b

HD 108874 b is an epic exoplanet. It lies about 194.1 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 8.76, has spectral type G5 and has an equilibrium temperature near 271 K.

Sits where it's neither too hot nor too cold — liquid water could exist on a surface here.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 8.76, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 108874 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 108874 b is an epic exoplanet

HD 108874 b scores 53 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 25 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, In the habitable zone, Gas giant, Multi-planet system and Orbits a Sun-like star — 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.