| Revision as of 18:10, 23 November 2004 edit132.205.95.65 (talk)No edit summary | Revision as of 18:23, 23 November 2004 edit undo132.205.95.65 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| '''Bellerophon''' is the first planet discovered around a sun like star outside of the solar system. It is the prototypical ]. | |||
| ⚫ | ==The planet |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ===The name=== | |||
| ⚫ | The planet was discovered using a sensitive ] that could detect the slight, regular velocity changes in the star's spectral lines of around 70 metres per second. These changes are caused by the planet's gravitational effects from just 7 million kilometres distance from the star. | ||
| The name of the exoplanet is "51 Peg b", the b used to indicate it is the first companion of its parent star. Further companions would be designated c, d, and so on. It has been informally named ']'. ''Bellerophon'' was a Greek hero who tamed a ], hence its appropriateness as a name. | |||
| ⚫ | ===The planet=== | ||
| ⚫ | After its discovery many teams confirmed its existence and obtained more observations of its properties, including the fact it orbits very close to the star, suffers temperatures around 1000 ], and is about half the mass of ]. At the time this close distance was not compatible with theory and resulted in discussions of ]. | ||
| The planet orbits the star ] in the ]. | |||
| * Sidereal Period 4.23 days | |||
| * Mean Distance 0.05 AU (7 million km) | |||
| * Mass 0.47 of Jupiter | |||
| * distance from Earth 50 light years | |||
| ===Discovery process=== | |||
| The ]'s discovery was announced on ] ] by ] and ] in '']'', volume 378, page 355, using the ] at the ]. | |||
| After the announcement, on ], ], confirmation came from Dr. ] from ] and Dr. ] from the ] using the ] at the ] near ] in ]. | After the announcement, on ], ], confirmation came from Dr. ] from ] and Dr. ] from the ] using the ] at the ] near ] in ]. | ||
| ===Discovery method=== | |||
| ⚫ | The planet was discovered using a sensitive ] that could detect the slight, regular velocity changes in the star's spectral lines of around 70 metres per second. These changes are caused by the planet's gravitational effects from just 7 million kilometres distance from the star. | ||
| This discovery of this first exoplanet established a milestone in astronomical research, as it forced astronomers to realize that giant planets could exist in short period orbits. Once astronomers realized that it was worth looking for giant planets with the currently avaliable technology, much more telescope time was devoted to radial velocity planet searches, and hence many more exoplanets in the Sun's neighbourhood have been discovered. | This discovery of this first exoplanet established a milestone in astronomical research, as it forced astronomers to realize that giant planets could exist in short period orbits. Once astronomers realized that it was worth looking for giant planets with the currently avaliable technology, much more telescope time was devoted to radial velocity planet searches, and hence many more exoplanets in the Sun's neighbourhood have been discovered. | ||
| == |
==Other resources== | ||
| ===See also=== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ], the first star discovered with exoplanets. | |||
| ===External links=== | |||
| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
Revision as of 18:23, 23 November 2004
Bellerophon is the first planet discovered around a sun like star outside of the solar system. It is the prototypical hot jupiter.
The name
The name of the exoplanet is "51 Peg b", the b used to indicate it is the first companion of its parent star. Further companions would be designated c, d, and so on. It has been informally named 'Bellerophon'. Bellerophon was a Greek hero who tamed a pegasus, hence its appropriateness as a name.
The planet
After its discovery many teams confirmed its existence and obtained more observations of its properties, including the fact it orbits very close to the star, suffers temperatures around 1000 Celsius, and is about half the mass of Jupiter. At the time this close distance was not compatible with theory and resulted in discussions of orbital migration.
The planet orbits the star 51 Pegasi in the Pegasus constellation.
- Sidereal Period 4.23 days
- Mean Distance 0.05 AU (7 million km)
- Mass 0.47 of Jupiter
- distance from Earth 50 light years
Discovery process
The exoplanet's discovery was announced on October 6 1995 by Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz in Nature, volume 378, page 355, using the radial velocity method at the Observatoire de Genève.
After the announcement, on October 12, 1995, confirmation came from Dr. Geoffrey Marcy from San Francisco State University and Dr. Paul Butler from the University of California, Berkeley using the Hamilton Spectrograph at the Lick Observatory near San Jose in California.
Discovery method
The planet was discovered using a sensitive spectroscope that could detect the slight, regular velocity changes in the star's spectral lines of around 70 metres per second. These changes are caused by the planet's gravitational effects from just 7 million kilometres distance from the star.
This discovery of this first exoplanet established a milestone in astronomical research, as it forced astronomers to realize that giant planets could exist in short period orbits. Once astronomers realized that it was worth looking for giant planets with the currently avaliable technology, much more telescope time was devoted to radial velocity planet searches, and hence many more exoplanets in the Sun's neighbourhood have been discovered.
Other resources
See also
- Extrasolar planet
- List of stars with confirmed extrasolar planets
- PSR 1257+12, the first star discovered with exoplanets.
External links
- Current Notes from the Extrasolar Planet Encyclopedia
- Velocity curve and information from the Geneva based Planet Search Team
- Velocity curves and information from the California & Carnegie Planet Search Team
- solstation entry