Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2020

GJ 887 c

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf GJ 887, located approximately 10.7 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.43 Earth radii
  • A mass of 6.50 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.10 g
  • An orbital period of 21.784 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1210 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 320 K (47 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 10.72 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.721
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 189,048 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

Context from the literature

Gliese 887 c or Lacaille 9352 c is an exoplanet announced in 2020 and located 10.74 light years away, in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus.

Excerpted from Wikipedia · full article

3 siblings around GJ 887

GJ 887 c shares its host star with 3 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
GJ 887 e Rocky Terrestrial 1.12 1.46 4.425 544 2026
GJ 887 b Super-Earth 1.80 3.90 9.262 426 2020
GJ 887 c this Sub-Neptune 2.43 6.50 21.784 320 2020
GJ 887 d Sub-Neptune 2.34 6.10 50.770 241 2026

GJ 887 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.43 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.217 R♃
Mass
6.50 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.020 M♃
Density
2.49 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.10 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.721
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2020
Method Radial Velocity
Facility La Silla Observatory
Telescope 3.6 m ESO Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1281of 1978

top 64.7%

This planet

2.43R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth GJ 887 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.4311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.006.50317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.491.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.102.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.002.500.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Minimum mass (M sin i) 6.500 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 217987

HIP

HIP 114046

TIC

TIC 155315739

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6553614253923452800

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6553614253923452800

System

GJ 887

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.430 R⊕ · percentile 35 / cohort 1978
Mass 6.500 M⊕ · percentile 33 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 21.78 d · percentile 65 / cohort 1946
Distance 3.29 pc · percentile 0 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.721 · percentile 94 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
21.784 days
Semi-major axis
0.1210 AU
Eccentricity
0.170
Inclination
°

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 21.78 Earth days (6.0% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.1210 AU.

Extended Orbital Architecture

RV semi-amplitude (K)

2.540 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,453,498.2000

Long. of periastron (ω)

200.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

36.80000

Eq. Temperature

320K

(47 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

2.50

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.721

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — liquid water is physically possible with adequate atmospheric pressure. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Jeffers et al. 2020

Instrument

HARPS Spectrograph

Publication

2020-06

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: GJ 887

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

3,688 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.90 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.468 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.495 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.06

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.156 dex

Stellar density

6.056 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

8.17 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.50 km/s

Rotation period

38.70 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
3.29 parsec
Light-years 10.72 ly
V-band magnitude
7.56 mag
Voyager-speed travel 189,048 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 8 bands

3.58.88.84B7.56V6.52Gaia5.57TESS5.32Ic4.34J3.61H3.47K

Astrometric Data

Parallax

304.219 mas

Total Proper Motion

6,895.546 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

6,765.99 mas/yr

PM Declination

1,330.39 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.788 · y = -0.189 · z = -0.586

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 346.50276° · Dec -35.84735°

Galactic ℓ, b

5.097° · -65.987°

Ecliptic λ, β

332.713° · -27.519°

HTM-20 index

215838338

Observation Record

Photometric series

1

Stellar spectra

2

Archive notes

1

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