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Common exoplanet 21 EP

HD 40979 b

RA 91.1253° · Dec 44.2598° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Two suns in its sky +12
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Two suns in its sky · +12

Trivia

What it actually is

  • 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.

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 6.8 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.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around December — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 2 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
  • Fastest probe ever. ≈ 173.6 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.

Properties

density gcc
3.8
diameter km
164554.98
discovery facility
Multiple Observatories
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2002
dist ly
111.181
eccentricity
0.25
eq temp k
354.69
host star teff
6165
insolation
2.7022
mag
6.7551
mass earth
1484.2661
multi star system
yes
name
HD 40979 b
orbital period days
264.15
radius earth
12.9
semi major au
0.85
spect
F8 V
sys num planets
1
sys num stars
3

About HD 40979 b

HD 40979 b is a common exoplanet. It lies about 111.2 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 6.76, has spectral type F8 V and has an equilibrium temperature near 355 K.

Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 6.76, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 40979 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 40979 b is a common exoplanet

HD 40979 b scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant and Two suns in its sky — 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.