← Back to dex
Epic exoplanet 61 EP

HD 160691 b

RA 266.0362° · Dec -51.8349° · exoplanet

Loading sky survey…
🌌 View in 3D star map
Tonight’s visibility

Computing the sky for your location…

Score breakdown

· 5 badges
61 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • In the habitable zone +30
  • Its star is visible to the naked eye +12
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
Total score 61

17 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • In the habitable zone · +30
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Its star is visible to the naked eye · +12
  • 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.

What it actually is

  • 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 4 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 5.1 you can see it with your own eyes from a dark site.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around June — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

discovery facility
Anglo-Australian Telescope
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2000
dist ly
50.8741
eccentricity
0.0505
eq temp k
262.13
habitable zone
yes
host star teff
5773
inclination
60
insolation
0.8439
mag
5.12
mass earth
1366.6622
name
HD 160691 b
orbital period days
645
semi major au
1.5
spect
G3 IV-V
sys num planets
4
sys num stars
1

About HD 160691 b

HD 160691 b is an epic exoplanet. It lies about 50.9 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 5.12, has spectral type G3 IV-V and has an equilibrium temperature near 262 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 5.12, it can be glimpsed with the unaided eye under dark skies.

Like any astronomical target, HD 160691 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 160691 b is an epic exoplanet

HD 160691 b scores 61 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 17 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, In the habitable zone, Multi-planet system, Its star is visible to the naked eye 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.