70 Vir b
70 Vir b is a cold gas giant orbiting 70 Vir in the constellation Virgo. It lies about 58 light-years from Earth and was discovered in 1996 using the radial velocity method.
Is 70 Vir b in the Habitable Zone?
70 Vir b orbits inside the inner edge of the habitable zone of 70 Vir. So close to its star, surface conditions are far too hot for liquid water.
Habitable zone of 70 Vir: 1.304–3.098 AU (conservative: 1.652–2.938 AU), per Kopparapu et al. (2014). Earth orbits the Sun at 1 AU.
See the full interactive habitable-zone view in the Exoplanet Explorer app ›
Orbit and Year Length
A year on 70 Vir b — one full orbit around 70 Vir — lasts 116.7 Earth days, between the years of Mercury (88 days) and Earth (365 days). It orbits at an average distance of 0.481 AU — comparable to the inner Solar System. Its orbit is highly elliptical (eccentricity 0.40), swinging dramatically closer to and farther from its star.
How Was 70 Vir b Discovered?
70 Vir b was discovered in 1996 using the radial velocity method, with observations from Lick Observatory.
The radial velocity method measures the subtle wobble of a star caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet, visible as periodic shifts in the star's light spectrum. The size of the wobble reveals the planet's minimum mass.
How Far Away Is 70 Vir b?
70 Vir b is 58.4 light-years (17.9 parsecs) from Earth. Light arriving here tonight left the planet around the year 1968. A probe traveling at the speed of Voyager 1 — about 17 km/s, the fastest outbound spacecraft ever launched — would need roughly 1,027,840 years to make the journey.
Earth Similarity Index
The Earth Similarity Index (ESI) scores how physically similar a planet is to Earth, from 0 to 1, based on radius, density, escape velocity and surface temperature. 70 Vir b scores 0.14, ranking #4,242 of 5,568 planets with a known ESI. For reference, Mars scores about 0.70.
The Host Star: 70 Vir
70 Vir
- Surface temperature
- 5,495 K (Sun: 5,772 K)
- Mass
- 1.09 M☉
- Radius
- 1.89 R☉
Planetary System
70 Vir b is the only planet known to orbit 70 Vir so far.
70 Vir b — Complete Data
| Mass (best estimate) | 2,357.03 Earth masses |
|---|---|
| Orbital period | 116.69 days |
| Orbital distance | 0.481 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.399 |
| Earth Similarity Index | 0.14 |
| Distance from Earth | 58.4 light-years (17.9 parsecs) |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Discovery method | Radial Velocity |
| Discovery facility | Lick Observatory |
| Discovery year | 1996 |
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, last updated 2018-12-03. Earth Similarity Index: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.
Frequently Asked Questions About 70 Vir b
Is 70 Vir b habitable?
No — 70 Vir b orbits too close to its star and is too hot for liquid water to exist on its surface.
How far away is 70 Vir b?
70 Vir b is about 58 light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. A spacecraft traveling as fast as Voyager 1 (about 17 km/s) would need roughly 1,027,840 years to get there.
How long is a year on 70 Vir b?
One orbit around 70 Vir takes 116.7 Earth days.
Explore 70 Vir b in the app
Browse, filter and compare 6,000+ exoplanets on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — with habitable-zone views, widgets and offline data.
