HD 76920 b
HD 76920 b is a cold gas giant orbiting HD 76920 in the constellation Volans. It lies about 600 light-years from Earth and was discovered in 2017 using the radial velocity method.
Is HD 76920 b in the Habitable Zone?
HD 76920 b orbits inside the inner edge of the habitable zone of HD 76920. So close to its star, surface conditions are far too hot for liquid water.
Habitable zone of HD 76920: 4.317–10.587 AU (conservative: 5.468–10.037 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 76920 b — one full orbit around HD 76920 — lasts 415.9 Earth days, longer than an Earth year. It orbits at an average distance of 1.091 AU — comparable to the inner Solar System. Its orbit is highly elliptical (eccentricity 0.88), swinging dramatically closer to and farther from its star.
How Was HD 76920 b Discovered?
HD 76920 b was discovered in 2017 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 76920 b?
HD 76920 b is 600.2 light-years (184.0 parsecs) from Earth. Light arriving here tonight left the planet around the year 1426. A probe traveling at the speed of Voyager 1 — about 17 km/s, the fastest outbound spacecraft ever launched — would need roughly 10,563,520 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 76920 b scores 0.10, ranking #4,449 of 5,568 planets with a known ESI. For reference, Mars scores about 0.70.
The Host Star: HD 76920
HD 76920
- Surface temperature
- 4,664 K (Sun: 5,772 K)
- Mass
- 1.00 M☉
- Radius
- 8.33 R☉
- Luminosity
- 29.4999 L☉
Planetary System
HD 76920 b is the only planet known to orbit HD 76920 so far.
HD 76920 b — Complete Data
| Mass (best estimate) | 994.80 Earth masses |
|---|---|
| Orbital period | 415.89 days |
| Orbital distance | 1.091 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.878 |
| Earth Similarity Index | 0.10 |
| Distance from Earth | 600.2 light-years (184.0 parsecs) |
| Constellation | Volans |
| Discovery method | Radial Velocity |
| Discovery facility | Multiple Observatories |
| Discovery year | 2017 |
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, last updated 2024-04-19. Earth Similarity Index: PHL @ UPR Arecibo.
Frequently Asked Questions About HD 76920 b
Is HD 76920 b habitable?
No — HD 76920 b orbits too close to its star and is too hot for liquid water to exist on its surface.
How far away is HD 76920 b?
HD 76920 b is about 600 light-years from Earth in the constellation Volans. A spacecraft traveling as fast as Voyager 1 (about 17 km/s) would need roughly 10,563,520 years to get there.
How long is a year on HD 76920 b?
One orbit around HD 76920 takes 415.9 Earth days.
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