About HD 86226 b
HD 86226 b is an uncommon exoplanet. It lies about 149 light-years from Earth, has an equilibrium temperature near 176 K, spans roughly 14.3 Earth radii and weighs about 143.02 Earth masses.
So low-density it would float on water.
Uncommon exoplanet 27 EP
HD 86226 b
RA 149.1235° · Dec -24.0992° · exoplanet
Score breakdown
· 4 badgesUncommon 33 pts → Rare
- Puffy low-density world +12
- Multi-planet system +6
- Confirmed exoplanet +5
- Gas giant +4
Total score 27
6 more points to reach Rare.
Badges
- Confirmed exoplanet · +5
- Gas giant · +4
- Puffy low-density world · +12
- Multi-planet system · +6
Trivia
What makes it special
- Cotton-candy planet. So low-density it would float on water.
Could we get there?
- Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.
Getting there
- Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 2.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
- Fastest probe ever. ≈ 232.6 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.
- At 10% light speed. ≈ 1490 years in a starship at a tenth of light speed.
- Distance. 149 light-years from Earth.
Look-back time
- Look-back time. The light you'd see left around the year 1877.
Saying hello
- Say hello. A radio message and its reply would take 298 years round-trip.
Standing on it
- A year here. A full year lasts about 4.5 Earth years.
By the numbers
- Size. About 14.3× the width of Earth.
- Volume. About 2924 Earths could fit inside it.
- Mass. Roughly 143× Earth's mass — about 0.5 Jupiters.
- Your weight. You'd weigh about 0.7× your Earth weight standing here.
- Density. Less dense than water — drop it in a big enough ocean and it would float.
- Temperature. A frigid -97°C — colder than dry ice.
How we found it
- Discovery. Found by Las Campanas Observatory using the radial velocity method.
Cosmic context
- Crowded system. One of at least 2 planets orbiting its star.
Properties
- density gcc
- 0.269
- discovery facility
- Las Campanas Observatory
- discovery method
- Radial Velocity
- dist ly
- 148.9978
- eccentricity
- 0.059
- eq temp k
- 176
- insolation
- 0.1583
- mass earth
- 143.0235
- name
- HD 86226 b
- orbital period days
- 1628
- radius earth
- 14.3
- sys num planets
- 2
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, HD 86226 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 86226 b is an uncommon exoplanet
HD 86226 b scores 27 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 6 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 4 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant, Puffy low-density world 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.