51 Pegasi is a Sun-like star located 15.4 parsecs (50.1 light-years) from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. It was the first Sun-like star, other than the Sun, found to have a planet orbiting it, a discovery that was announced in 1995.
The exoplanet's discovery was announced on October 6, 1995 by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. The discovery was made with the radial velocity method at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, using the ELODIE spectro...
more
51 Pegasi is a Sun-like star located 15.4 parsecs (50.1 light-years) from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. It was the first Sun-like star, other than the Sun, found to have a planet orbiting it, a discovery that was announced in 1995.
The exoplanet's discovery was announced on October 6, 1995 by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. The discovery was made with the radial velocity method at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, using the ELODIE spectrograph.
The star itself is of apparent magnitude 5.49, and so is visible from the Earth with binoculars, or with the naked eye under dark sky conditions. 51 Pegasi is a yellow dwarf star estimated to be 7.5 billion years old, somewhat older than the Sun, 4–6% more massive, with more metal content and running low in hydrogen. Its spectral type is listed as either G2.5V or G4-5Va.
In 1996 astronomers Baliunas, Sokoloff, and Soon reported measurements of a sample of stars' Calcium II H and K spectral lines and thereby measured a rotational period...
less
