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Uncommon exoplanet 32 EP

HD 74156 b

RA 130.6048° · Dec 4.5772° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
32 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Eccentric orbit +9
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 32

2 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Eccentric orbit · +9
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8

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. Lighter than Neptune — a puffed-up ball of hydrogen and helium with no surface anywhere on it to stand on.
  • 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 7.6 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • 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
1.19
diameter km
172208.7
discovery facility
Haute-Provence Observatory
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2003
dist ly
187.8756
eccentricity
0.636
eq temp k
679.63
host star teff
6068
insolation
32.0951
mag
7.61
mass earth
532.3626
name
HD 74156 b
orbital period days
51.6356
radius earth
13.5
semi major au
0.28
spect
G0
sys num planets
2
sys num stars
1

About HD 74156 b

HD 74156 b is an uncommon exoplanet. It lies about 187.9 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 7.61, has spectral type G0 and has an equilibrium temperature near 680 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 7.61, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 74156 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 74156 b is an uncommon exoplanet

HD 74156 b scores 32 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Gas giant, Eccentric orbit, 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.