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Epic exoplanet 53 EP

HD 159868 b

RA 264.7467° · Dec -43.1462° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
53 pts · Epic
Epic 78 pts → Anomaly
  • In the habitable zone +30
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 53

25 more points to reach Anomaly.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • In the habitable zone · +30
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +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.

What it actually is

  • What it is made of. Too light to be solid rock and too heavy to be all gas: most likely a deep global ocean or a thick steamy envelope over a rocky core.
  • 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 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 7.2 it is just past naked-eye reach — ordinary binoculars will pull it in.
  • Southern sky. It rides the southern half of the sky — an easier target the further south you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around June — that's when to go looking.

Properties

density gcc
1.65
diameter km
169657.46
discovery facility
Anglo-Australian Telescope
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2006
dist ly
182.1591
eccentricity
0.024
eq temp k
255.69
habitable zone
yes
host star teff
5534
insolation
0.668
mag
7.24
mass earth
704.9469
name
HD 159868 b
orbital period days
1184.1
radius earth
13.3
semi major au
2.32
spect
G5 V
sys num planets
2
sys num stars
1

Nearby objects

About HD 159868 b

HD 159868 b is an epic exoplanet. It lies about 182.2 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 7.24, has spectral type G5 V and has an equilibrium temperature near 256 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 7.24, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 159868 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 159868 b is an epic exoplanet

HD 159868 b scores 53 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the epic tier. Another 25 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, In the habitable zone, Gas giant, 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.