14 Herculis b is an extrasolar planet approximately 59 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules. The planet was found orbiting the star 14 Herculis, with a mass that would likely make the planet a Jovian planet roughly the same size as Jupiter but much more massive. It was discovered in July 1998 by the Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search team. At the time of discovery was the extrasolar planet with the longest orbital period, though longer-...
more
14 Herculis b is an extrasolar planet approximately 59 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules. The planet was found orbiting the star 14 Herculis, with a mass that would likely make the planet a Jovian planet roughly the same size as Jupiter but much more massive. It was discovered in July 1998 by the Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search team. At the time of discovery was the extrasolar planet with the longest orbital period, though longer-period planets have subsequently been discovered.
Like the majority of known extrasolar planets, 14 Herculis b was detected by measuring variations in its star's radial velocity as a result of the planet's gravity. This was done by making precise measurements of the Doppler shift of the spectrum of 14 Herculis. Prior to this analysis, another possible explanation of previous Doppler shift analysis included face-on spectroscopic binaries.
Preliminary astrometric measurements made by the Hipparcos satellite suggest that this planet has an...
less
