exoplanet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...
located 102.7
light year
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
s away in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
of
Virgo
Virgo may refer to:
*Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac
*Virgo (constellation), a constellation
*Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo
*Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy
*Virgo Supe ...
orbiting the star HR 5183. It has a mass of . It has a highly
eccentric
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
(e≃0.87) orbit which takes it from within the orbit of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
to beyond the orbit of
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...
, which classifies it as an
eccentric Jupiter
An eccentric Jupiter is a Jovian planet that orbits its star in an eccentric orbit. Note: this study treats eccentric Jupiters as giant planets having an orbital eccentricity of 0.1 or greater. Eccentric Jupiters may probably disqualify a planetar ...
and it has been nicknamed the "whiplash planet". It was discovered in 2019 based on two decades of
radial velocity
The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the temporal rate of change, rate of change of the distance or Slant range, range between the two points. It is e ...
observations.
In 2021,
astrometric
Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way.
Histor ...
observations revealed that HR 5183 b has a nearly edge-on
orbital inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Earth ...
, and thus its true mass is close to its
minimum mass
In astronomy, minimum mass is the lower-bound calculated mass of observed objects such as planets, stars and binary systems, nebulae, and black holes.
Minimum mass is a widely cited statistic for extrasolar planets detected by the radial veloc ...
.
See also
*
Eccentric Jupiter
An eccentric Jupiter is a Jovian planet that orbits its star in an eccentric orbit. Note: this study treats eccentric Jupiters as giant planets having an orbital eccentricity of 0.1 or greater. Eccentric Jupiters may probably disqualify a planetar ...
*
HD 80606 b
HD 80606 b (also Struve 1341 B b or HIP 45982 b) is an eccentric and hot Jupiter 190 light-years from the Sun in the constellation of Ursa Major. HD 80606 b was discovered orbiting the star HD 80606 in April 2001 by a team led by Michel Mayor an ...
*
HD 20782 b
HD 20782 b is an extrasolar planet located approximately 117 light-years away in the constellation of Fornax, orbiting the star HD 20782.
This planet orbits in the most eccentric orbit known (as of November 2012), with a semi-major axis of ...