tau Boo b

tau Boo b Image

Description: Tau Boötis b, or more precisely Tau Boötis Ab, is an extrasolar planet approximately 51 light-years away. The planet and its host star is one of the planetary systems selected by the International Astronomical Union as part of NameExoWorlds, their public process for giving proper names to exoplanets and their host star. The process involved public nomination and voting for the new names, and the IAU planned to announce the new names in mid-December 2015. However, the IAU annulled the vote as the winning name was judged not to conform with the IAU rules for naming exoplanets.

Physical Properties

Mass (Jupiter mass): 5.95 MJ

Radius (Jupiter radius): 1.14 RJ

Density: 4.95 g/cm³

Equilibrium Temperature: Unknown

Orbital Parameters

Orbital Period: 3.3124568 days

Semi-major Axis: 0.049 AU

Eccentricity: 0.011

Inclination: 44.5°

Host Star Properties

Host Star: tau Boo

Spectral Type: F7 V

Temperature: 6466.27 K

Stellar Mass: 1.32 M☉

Stellar Radius: 1.43 R☉

Discovery Information

Planet Letter: b

Object ID: 3.11429

Host ID: 2.57138

Discovery Date: 1997-01

Discovery Year: 1996

Discovery Method: Radial Velocity

Discovery Locale: Ground

Discovery Facility: Lick Observatory

Discovery Instrument: Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph

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