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Epic exoplanet 65 EP

GJ 876 c

RA 343.3240° · Dec -14.2666° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
65 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • In the habitable zone +30
  • Nearby (<25 ly) +12
  • Orbits a red dwarf +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 65

13 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Nearby (<25 ly) · +12
  • In the habitable zone · +30
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a red dwarf · +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

  • 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.
  • 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 10.2 you'll want a small backyard telescope.

Properties

density gcc
0.455
diameter km
178586.8
discovery facility
Multiple Observatories
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2000
dist ly
15.2483
eccentricity
0.2559
eq temp k
241.66
habitable zone
yes
host star teff
3293.74
inclination
59
insolation
0.7384
mag
10.16
mass earth
226.9846
name
GJ 876 c
orbital period days
30.0881
radius earth
14
semi major au
0.1296
spect
M2.5V
sys num planets
4
sys num stars
1

About GJ 876 c

GJ 876 c is an epic exoplanet. It lies about 15.2 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 10.16, has spectral type M2.5V and has an equilibrium temperature near 242 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 10.16, a small backyard telescope will bring it into view.

Like any astronomical target, GJ 876 c 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 GJ 876 c is an epic exoplanet

GJ 876 c scores 65 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 13 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Nearby (<25 ly), In the habitable zone, Gas giant, Multi-planet system and Orbits a red dwarf — 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.