Geoffrey W. Marcy et al 1998 ApJ 505 L147 doi:10.1086/311623
A Planetary Companion to a Nearby M4 Dwarf, Gliese 876*
FREEGeoffrey W. Marcy1, R. Paul Butler2, Steven S. Vogt3, Debra Fischer1 and Jack J. Lissauer4
Show affiliationsDoppler measurements of the M4 dwarf star Gliese 876 taken at both Lick and Keck Observatories reveal periodic, Keplerian velocity variations with a period of 61 days. The orbital fit implies that the companion has a mass of M=2.1 MJUP/sini, an orbital eccentricity of e=0.27 ± 0.03, and a semimajor axis of a=0.21 AU. The planet is the first found around an M dwarf and was drawn from a survey of 24 such stars at Lick Observatory. It is the closest extrasolar planet yet found, providing opportunities for follow-up detection. The presence of a giant planet on a noncircular orbit, 0.2 AU from a 0.32 M
star, presents a challenge to planet formation theory. This planet detection around an M dwarf suggests that giant planets are numerous in the Galaxy.
- Footnote
- Subject headings
- Dates
-
Issue 2 (1998 October 1)
Received 1998 July 7, accepted for publication 1998 July 28
Published 1998 August 31
-
A Planetary Companion to a Nearby M4 Dwarf, Gliese 876
Geoffrey W. Marcy et al 1998 ApJ 505 L147
-
The MACHO Project Large Magellanic Cloud Microlensing Results from the First Two Years and the Nature of the Galactic Dark Halo
C. Alcock et al. 1997 ApJ 486 697
Users also read
What's this?- A Pair of Resonant Planets Orbiting GJ 876
- Discovery of a Planetary-Mass Brown Dwarf with a Circumstellar Disk
- A ~7.5 M⊕ Planet Orbiting the Nearby Star, GJ 876