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Uncommon exoplanet 23 EP

HD 72659 b

RA 128.5128° · Dec -1.5686° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

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

Trivia

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.
  • 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 7.5 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.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

density gcc
2.27
diameter km
168381.84
discovery facility
W. M. Keck Observatory
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2002
dist ly
169.2583
eccentricity
0.2393
eq temp k
155.34
host star teff
5929
inclination
77.583
insolation
0.1115
mag
7.46
mass earth
949.6713
name
HD 72659 b
orbital period days
3549
radius earth
13.2
semi major au
4.607
spect
G2 V
sys num planets
2
sys num stars
1

About HD 72659 b

HD 72659 b is an uncommon exoplanet. It lies about 169.3 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 7.46, has spectral type G2 V and has an equilibrium temperature near 155 K.

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.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 7.46, it is an easy target for binoculars.

Like any astronomical target, HD 72659 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 72659 b is an uncommon exoplanet

HD 72659 b scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, 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.