Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 1996

55 Cnc b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) 55 Cnc, located approximately 41.0 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.90 Earth radii
  • A mass of 263.98 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.37 g
  • An orbital period of 14.652 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1180 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 700 K (427 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 41.05 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.188
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 723,888 years

4 siblings around 55 Cnc

55 Cnc b shares its host star with 4 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
55 Cnc e Super-Earth 1.88 7.99 0.737 1,958 2004
55 Cnc b this Gas Giant 13.90 263.98 14.652 700 1996
55 Cnc c Neptune-like 8.51 54.47 44.394 2004
55 Cnc f Neptune-like 7.59 44.81 260.580 2007
55 Cnc d Gas Giant 13.00 1,232.49 4,799.000 2002

55 Cnc b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.90 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.240 R♃
Mass
263.98 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.831 M♃
Density
0.54 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.37 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.188
HZ Position Unknown
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 1996
Method Radial Velocity
Facility Lick Observatory
Telescope 3.0 m C. Donald Shane Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#456of 1771

top 25.7%

This planet

13.90R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth 55 Cnc b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.9011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00263.98317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.541.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.372.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 263.979 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).
Minimum mass (M sin i) 276.000 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 75732

HIP

HIP 43587

TIC

TIC 332064670

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 704967037090946688

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 704967037090946688

System

55 Cnc

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.900 R⊕ · percentile 72 / cohort 1771
Mass 263.979 M⊕ · percentile 29 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 14.65 d · percentile 46 / cohort 1533
Distance 12.59 pc · percentile 1 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.188 · percentile 39 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
14.652 days
Semi-major axis
0.1180 AU
Eccentricity
0.003
Inclination
89.73 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 14.65 Earth days (4.0% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1180 AU.

Extended Orbital Architecture

RV semi-amplitude (K)

71.500 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,495.5950

Long. of periastron (ω)

23.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

9.38000

Eq. Temperature

700K

(427 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.188

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Butler et al. 1997

Instrument

Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph

Publication

1997-01

Observation locale

Ground

Discovery cohort

Planets confirmed in 1996 at Lick Observatory (4 shown).

Host System: 55 Cnc

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,198 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

10.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.980 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.015 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.39

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.300 dex

Stellar density

1.521 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

27.41 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.06 km/s

Rotation period

39.00 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-5.040

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
12.59 parsec
Light-years 41.05 ly
V-band magnitude
5.95 mag
Voyager-speed travel 723,888 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 11 bands

3.36.86.82B5.95V5.73Gaia5.21TESS4.77J4.27H4.02K4.00W13.30W24.05W34.01W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

79.427 mas

Total Proper Motion

539.133 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-485.87 mas/yr

PM Declination

-233.65 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.602 · y = 0.642 · z = 0.475

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 133.14684° · Dec 28.32982°

Galactic ℓ, b

196.795° · 37.697°

Ecliptic λ, β

127.727° · 10.366°

HTM-20 index

570333148

Observation Record

Photometric series

1

RV measurements

9

Stellar spectra

11

Archive notes

4

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