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Rare exoplanet 43 EP

PSR B1257+12 c

RA 195.0149° · Dec 12.6824° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
43 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Found before the year 2000 +18
  • Super-Earth +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
Total score 43

7 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Super-Earth · +8
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Found before the year 2000 · +18

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. Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 3 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

  • 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 April — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 34.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

density gcc
3.39
diameter km
24364.342
discovery facility
Arecibo Observatory
discovery method
Pulsar Timing
discovery year
1992
dist ly
1956.936
eccentricity
0.0186
inclination
53
mass earth
4.3
name
PSR B1257+12 c
orbital period days
66.5419
radius earth
1.91
semi major au
0.36
sys num planets
3
sys num stars
1

Nearby objects

About PSR B1257+12 c

PSR B1257+12 c is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 1,956.9 light-years from Earth, spans roughly 1.91 Earth radii, weighs about 4.3 Earth masses and completes an orbit every 66.54 days.

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

Like any astronomical target, PSR B1257+12 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 PSR B1257+12 c is a rare exoplanet

PSR B1257+12 c scores 43 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 7 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Super-Earth, Multi-planet system and Found before the year 2000 — 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.