61 Virginis b
extrasolar planet
61 Virginis b (abbreviated 61 Vir b) is an extrasolar planet, orbiting the 5th magnitude G-type star 61 Virginis, in Virgo. This planet has a minimum mass of 5.1 times that of Earth and is an example of a super-Earth planet. It orbits very close to the star, at a distance of 0.050201 AU with an eccentricity of 0.12. This planet was discovered on 14 December 2009 using the radial velocity method taken at Keck and Anglo-Australian Observatories.
Characteristics
Mass, radius and temperature
61 Virginis b is a super-Earth, an exoplanet with a radius and mass bigger than Earth, but smaller than that of the ice giants Neptune and Uranus. It has an equilibrium temperature of 1,054 K (781 °C; 1,438 °F). It has an estimated minimum mass of around 5.1 M🜨, and a potential radius of 1.6 R🜨, based on its mass.
Host star
The planet orbits a (G-type) star named 61 Virginis, orbited by a total of three planets. The star has a mass of 0.94 M☉ and a radius of 0.98 R☉. It has a temperature of 5531 K and is about 8.96 billion years old.
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