Artist impression of eps Ind A b exoplanet
Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2019

eps Ind A b

A gas giant orbiting the k-type orange eps Ind A, located approximately 11.9 light-years from Earth.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Elisabeth Matthews (MPIA)

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 12.70 Earth radii
  • A mass of 2,005.50 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 12.43 g
  • An orbital period of 16,510.000 days
  • Semi-major axis 28.4000 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 275 K (2 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 11.87 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.525
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 209,282 years

Context from the literature

Epsilon Indi Ab is a gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Epsilon Indi A, about 11.9 light-years away in the constellation of Indus. The planet was confirmed to exist in 2018. It orbits at around 30 AU with a period of around 180 years and a relatively high eccentricity of 0.4, and has a mass around seven times that of Jupiter. It was directly imaged using the James Webb Space Telescope in 2023 and the image was released on 24 July, 2024.

Excerpted from Wikipedia · full article

eps Ind A b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
12.70 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.140 R♃
Mass
2,005.50 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
6.310 M♃
Density
5.38 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
12.43 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.525
HZ Position Unknown
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2019
Method Radial Velocity
Facility La Silla Observatory
Telescope 3.6 m ESO Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1130of 1771

top 63.7%

This planet

12.70R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth eps Ind A b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0012.7011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.002,005.50317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.515.381.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.0012.432.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 2,005.497 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 209100

HIP

HIP 108870

TIC

TIC 231698181

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6412595290592307840

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6412595290592307840

System

eps Ind

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 12.700 R⊕ · percentile 34 / cohort 1771
Mass 2,005.497 M⊕ · percentile 80 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 16,510.00 d · percentile 97 / cohort 1533
Distance 3.64 pc · percentile 0 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.525 · percentile 100 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
16,510.000 days
Semi-major axis
28.4000 AU
Eccentricity
0.400
Inclination
103.70 °

Year Length

A year here lasts about 45.20 Earth years on a highly eccentric trajectory at a mean orbital distance of 28.4000 AU.

Eq. Temperature

275K

(2 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.525

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — liquid water is physically possible with adequate atmospheric pressure.

Detection Signatures

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Astrometry

Positional wobble of the host star was measured.

Direct imaging

The planet has been imaged directly (rare).

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Feng et al. 2019

Instrument

HARPS Spectrograph

Publication

2019-12

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: eps Ind A

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,760 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.50 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.679 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.760 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.22

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

5.250 dex

Stellar density

2.560 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-40.70 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.00 km/s

Rotation period

-35.73 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.560

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
3.64 parsec
Light-years 11.87 ly
V-band magnitude
4.69 mag
Voyager-speed travel 209,282 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 8 bands

2.25.85.76B4.69V4.35Gaia3.70TESS3.54Ic2.89J2.35H2.24K

Astrometric Data

Parallax

274.805 mas

Total Proper Motion

4,708.236 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

3,967.04 mas/yr

PM Declination

-2,535.76 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.478 · y = -0.267 · z = -0.837

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 330.87140° · Dec -56.79690°

Galactic ℓ, b

336.166° · -48.055°

Ecliptic λ, β

309.637° · -41.426°

HTM-20 index

-336533374

Wikipedia → Image: Wikimedia Commons · NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Elisabeth Matthews (MPIA) · Public domain

Similar Worlds

Explore Related Categories