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HD 238914 b

Cold Gas Giant Draco

HD 238914 b is a cold gas giant orbiting HD 238914 in the constellation Draco. It lies about 1,694 light-years from Earth and was discovered in 2018 using the radial velocity method.

1,907×Earth mass
4,100 dOrbital period
0.32Earth similarity
1,694 lyDistance
2018Discovered

Is HD 238914 b in the Habitable Zone?

HD 238914 b orbits inside the inner edge of the habitable zone of HD 238914. So close to its star, surface conditions are far too hot for liquid water.

HD 238914 b
Too hot Optimistic habitable zone Conservative habitable zone Too cold

Habitable zone of HD 238914: 6.659–16.255 AU (conservative: 8.435–15.411 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 HD 238914 b — one full orbit around HD 238914 — lasts 4,100.0 Earth days, longer than an Earth year. It orbits at an average distance of 5.700 AU. Its orbit is highly elliptical (eccentricity 0.56), swinging dramatically closer to and farther from its star.

How Was HD 238914 b Discovered?

HD 238914 b was discovered in 2018 using the radial velocity method, with observations from Multiple Observatories.

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 HD 238914 b?

HD 238914 b is 1,694.2 light-years (519.5 parsecs) from Earth. Light arriving here tonight left the planet about 1,694 years ago. A probe traveling at the speed of Voyager 1 — about 17 km/s, the fastest outbound spacecraft ever launched — would need roughly 29,817,920 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. HD 238914 b scores 0.32, ranking #1,055 of 5,568 planets with a known ESI. For reference, Mars scores about 0.70.

The Host Star: HD 238914

HD 238914

Surface temperature
4,769 K (Sun: 5,772 K)
Mass
1.47 M☉
Radius
12.73 R☉
Luminosity
70.7946 L☉

Planetary System

HD 238914 b is the only planet known to orbit HD 238914 so far.

HD 238914 b — Complete Data

Mass (best estimate)1,906.98 Earth masses
Orbital period4,100.00 days
Orbital distance5.700 AU
Eccentricity0.560
Earth Similarity Index0.32
Distance from Earth1,694.2 light-years (519.5 parsecs)
ConstellationDraco
Discovery methodRadial Velocity
Discovery facilityMultiple Observatories
Discovery year2018

Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, last updated 2018-01-23. Earth Similarity Index: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.

Frequently Asked Questions About HD 238914 b

Is HD 238914 b habitable?

No — HD 238914 b orbits too close to its star and is too hot for liquid water to exist on its surface.

How far away is HD 238914 b?

HD 238914 b is about 1,694 light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco. A spacecraft traveling as fast as Voyager 1 (about 17 km/s) would need roughly 29,817,920 years to get there.

How long is a year on HD 238914 b?

One orbit around HD 238914 takes 4,100.0 Earth days.

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