Gliese 581 e ( /ˈɡliːzə/) or Gl 581 e is an extrasolar planet found around Gliese 581, an M3V red dwarf star approximately 20.5 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Libra. It is the fourth planet discovered in the system and the first in order from the star.
The planet was discovered by an Observatory of Geneva team led by Michel Mayor, using the HARPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 m (140 in) telescope in La S...
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Gliese 581 e ( /ˈɡliːzə/) or Gl 581 e is an extrasolar planet found around Gliese 581, an M3V red dwarf star approximately 20.5 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Libra. It is the fourth planet discovered in the system and the first in order from the star.
The planet was discovered by an Observatory of Geneva team led by Michel Mayor, using the HARPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory 3.6 m (140 in) telescope in La Silla, Chile. The discovery was announced on 21 April 2009. Mayor's team employed the radial velocity technique, in which the orbit size and mass of a planet are determined based on the small perturbations it induces in its parent star's orbit via gravity.
At a minimum mass of 1.7 Earth masses, it is one of the least-massive extrasolar planet discovered around a normal star, and thus the closest in mass to Earth. At an orbital distance of just 0.03 AU from its parent star, however, it orbits further in than the habitable zone. It is unlikely to...
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