Artist impression of HD 20781 d exoplanet
Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2019

HD 20781 d

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange HD 20781, located approximately 117.3 light-years from Earth.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 400Weir

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.25 Earth radii
  • A mass of 10.61 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.00 g
  • An orbital period of 29.158 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1647 AU
  • Distance from Earth 117.32 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.612
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 2,068,995 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

Context from the literature

HD 20781 d is an extrasolar planet orbiting the K-type main-sequence star HD 20781 117 light years away in the southern constellation Fornax. It was discovered in 2011 during a survey for southern exoplanets conducted with HARPS using doppler spectroscopy, the radial velocity variations caused by the gravitational pull of the planet. Its existence was confirmed in another survey during 2017.

Excerpted from Wikipedia · full article

3 siblings around HD 20781

HD 20781 d 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
HD 20781 b Rocky Terrestrial 1.21 1.93 5.314 2019
HD 20781 c Sub-Neptune 2.17 5.33 13.891 2019
HD 20781 d this Sub-Neptune 3.25 10.61 29.158 2019
HD 20781 e Sub-Neptune 3.83 14.03 85.507 2019

HD 20781 d Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.25 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.290 R♃
Mass
10.61 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.033 M♃
Density
1.70 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.00 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.612
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

#312of 1978

top 15.7%

This planet

3.25R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth HD 20781 d Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.2511.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0010.61317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.701.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.002.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Minimum mass (M sin i) 10.610 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.

Star Catalogue Identifiers

HD

HD 20781

HIP

HIP 15526

TIC

TIC 144503312

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 5060105892897388288

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 5060105897197110144

System

HD 20782

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.250 R⊕ · percentile 84 / cohort 1978
Mass 10.610 M⊕ · percentile 78 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 29.16 d · percentile 73 / cohort 1946
Distance 35.97 pc · percentile 9 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.612 · percentile 83 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
29.158 days
Semi-major axis
0.1647 AU
Eccentricity
0.110
Inclination
°

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 29.16 Earth days (8.0% of a terrestrial year) on a mildly elliptical path at a mean orbital distance of 0.1647 AU.

Eq. Temperature

 

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.612

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Udry et al. 2019

Instrument

HARPS Spectrograph

Publication

2019-02

Observation locale

Ground

Host System: HD 20781

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,256 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.834 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.700 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.11

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.370 dex

Stellar density

1.962 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

40.31 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

1.10 km/s

Rotation period

46.80 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
35.97 parsec
Light-years 117.32 ly
V-band magnitude
8.48 mag
Voyager-speed travel 2,068,995 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 7 bands

6.69.29.24B8.48V8.24Gaia7.72TESS7.05J6.64H6.55K

Astrometric Data

Parallax

27.771 mas

Total Proper Motion

355.159 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

348.85 mas/yr

PM Declination

-66.66 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.563 · y = 0.672 · z = -0.482

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 50.01398° · Dec -28.78412°

Galactic ℓ, b

224.673° · -57.272°

Ecliptic λ, β

37.008° · -45.145°

HTM-20 index

-935964729

Wikipedia → Image: Wikimedia Commons · 400Weir · CC BY-SA 4.0

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