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Gliese 667
Gliese 667 (142 G. Scorpii) is a triple-star system in the constellation Scorpius lying at a distance of about from Earth. All three of the stars have masses smaller than the Sun. To the naked eye, the system appears to be a single faint star of magnitude 5.89. The system has a relatively high proper motion, exceeding 1 second of arc per year. There is a 12th-magnitude star visually close to the other three, but it is a distant background star not gravitationally bound to the system. The two brightest stars in this system, GJ 667 A and GJ 667 B, are orbiting each other at an average angular separation of 1.81 arcseconds with a high eccentricity of 0.58. At the estimated distance of this system, this is equivalent to a physical separation of about 12.6 AU, or nearly 13 times the separation of the Earth from the Sun. Their eccentric orbit brings the pair as close as about 5 AU to each other, or as distant as 20 AU, corresponding to an eccentricity of 0.6.Based ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gliese Catalogue Of Nearby Stars
The ''Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars'' (, English ) is a star catalogue listing stars located within 25 parsecs (82 ly) of the Sun. First edition and supplements In 1957, German astronomer Wilhelm Gliese published his first star catalogue of 915 known stars within of Earth, listing their known properties and ordered geographically by right ascension. Stars in the first catalogue are designated by coding ''GL NNN'', the N representing the consecutive integer number based on this order. Gliese published an update as the ''Catalogue of Nearby Stars'' in 1969, all known stars to , which catalogued 1,529 stars, encoded as ''Gl NNN.NA'' (prefix Gl and the entries of twelve years before gained a .0 affix; the more than 500 additional stars were recorded using interspersed 0.1, 0.2 etc. numbering). This list therefore numbered from 1.0 to 915.0 as no stars were entered after 915.0. and retained a strict right ascension order. A Supplement published in 1970 by Richard van ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Eccentricity
In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values between 0 and 1 form an elliptic orbit, 1 is a parabolic escape orbit (or capture orbit), and greater than 1 is a hyperbola. The term derives its name from the parameters of conic sections, as every Kepler orbit is a conic section. It is normally used for the isolated two-body problem, but extensions exist for objects following a rosette orbit through the Galaxy. Definition In a two-body problem with inverse-square-law force, every orbit is a Kepler orbit. The eccentricity of this Kepler orbit is a non-negative number that defines its shape. The eccentricity may take the following values: * Circular orbit: * Elliptic orbit: * Parabolic trajectory: * Hyperbolic trajectory: The eccentricity is given by e = \sqrt where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinction (astronomy)
In astronomy, extinction is the absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption and light scattering, scattering of electromagnetic radiation by dust and gas between an emitting astronomical object and the observation, observer. Interstellar extinction was first documented as such in 1930 by Robert Julius Trumpler. However, its effects had been noted in 1847 by Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, and its effect on the colors of stars had been observed by a number of individuals who did not connect it with the general presence of Cosmic dust, galactic dust. For stars lying near the plane of the Milky Way which are within a few thousand parsecs of the Earth, extinction in the visual band of frequencies (photometric system) is roughly 1.8 Magnitude (astronomy), magnitudes per kiloparsec. For Observatory#Ground-based_observatories, Earth-bound observers, extinction arises both from the interstellar medium and the Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; it may also arise fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apparent Visual Magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction of the object's light caused by interstellar dust along the line of sight to the observer. Unless stated otherwise, the word ''magnitude'' in astronomy usually refers to a celestial object's apparent magnitude. The magnitude scale likely dates to before the ancient Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose star catalog popularized the system by listing stars from 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined to closely match this historical system by Norman Pogson in 1856. The scale is reverse logarithmic: the brighter an object is, the lower its magnitude number. A difference of 1.0 in magnitude corresponds to the brightness ratio of \sqrt /math>, or about 2.512. For example, a magnitude 2.0 star is 2. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metallicity
In astronomy, metallicity is the Abundance of the chemical elements, abundance of Chemical element, elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-Dark matter, dark) matter in the universe is either hydrogen or helium, and astronomers use the word ''metals'' as convenient shorthand for ''all elements except hydrogen and helium''. This word-use is distinct from the conventional chemical or physical definition of a metal as an electrically conducting element. Stars and nebulae with relatively high abundances of heavier elements are called ''metal-rich'' when discussing metallicity, even though many of those elements are called ''Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetals'' in chemistry. Metals in early spectroscopy In 1802, William Hyde WollastonMelvyn C. UsselmanWilliam Hyde WollastonEncyclopædia Britannica, retrieved 31 March 2013 noted the appearance of a number of dark features in the solar spectrum. In 1814, Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellar Classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the Continuum (spectrum), rainbow of colors interspersed with spectral lines. Each line indicates a particular chemical element or molecule, with the line strength indicating the abundance of that element. The strengths of the different spectral lines vary mainly due to the temperature of the photosphere, although in some cases there are true abundance differences. The ''spectral class'' of a star is a short code primarily summarizing the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the photosphere's temperature. Most stars are currently classified under the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system using the letters ''O'', ''B'', ''A'', ''F'', ''G'', ''K'', and ''M'', a sequence from the hottest (''O'' type) to the cool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
K-type Main-sequence Star
A K-type main-sequence star, also referred to as a K-type dwarf, or orange dwarf, is a main-sequence (hydrogen-burning) star of spectral type K and luminosity class V. These stars are intermediate in size between red M-type main-sequence stars ("red dwarfs") and yellow/white G-type main-sequence stars. They have masses between 0.6 and 0.9 times the mass of the Sun and surface temperatures between 3,900 and 5,300 K. These stars are of particular interest in the search for extraterrestrial life due to their stability and long lifespan. These stars stay on the main sequence for up to 70 billion years, a length of time much larger than the time the universe has existed (13.8 billion years), as such none have had sufficient time to leave the main sequence. Well-known examples include Alpha Centauri B (K1 V), Epsilon Indi (K5 V) and Epsilon Eridani (K2 V). Nomenclature In modern usage, the names applied to K-type main sequence stars vary. When explicitly defined, late K dwarf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circumstellar Habitable Zone
In astronomy and astrobiology, the habitable zone (HZ), or more precisely the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), is the range of orbits around a star within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient atmospheric pressure.J. F. Kasting, D. P. Whitmire, R. T. Reynolds, Icarus 101, 108 (1993). The bounds of the HZ are based on Earth's position in the Solar System and the amount of radiant energy it receives from the Sun. Due to the importance of liquid water to Earth's biosphere, the nature of the HZ and the objects within it may be instrumental in determining the scope and distribution of planets capable of supporting Earth-like extraterrestrial life and intelligence. As such, it is considered by many to be a major factor of planetary habitability, and the most likely place to find extraterrestrial liquid water and biosignatures elsewhere in the universe. The habitable zone is also called the Goldilocks zone, a metaphor, allusion and antonomasia of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gliese 667 Cc
Gliese 667 Cc (also known as GJ 667 Cc, HR 6426 Cc, or HD 156384 Cc) is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 667 C, which is a member of the Gliese 667 triple star system, approximately away in the constellation of Scorpius. The exoplanet was found by using the radial velocity method, from radial-velocity measurements via observation of Doppler shifts in the spectrum of the planet's parent star. Gliese 667 Cc is sometimes considered as the first confirmed exoplanet with potential habitability. Physical characteristics Mass, radius and temperature Gliese 667 Cc is a super-Earth, an exoplanet with a mass and radius greater than that of Earth, but smaller than that of the giant planets Uranus and Neptune. It is heavier than Earth with a minimum mass of about 3.7 Earth masses. The equilibrium temperature of Gliese 667 Cc is estimated to be . It is expected to have a radius of around 1.5 , dependent upon its composition. Host star Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gas Dwarf
A Mini-Neptune (sometimes known as a gas dwarf or transitional planet) is a planet less massive than Neptune but resembling Neptune in that it has a thick hydrogen-helium atmosphere, probably with deep layers of ice, rock or liquid oceans (made of water, ammonia, a mixture of both, or heavier volatiles). A gas dwarf is a gas planet with a rocky core that has accumulated a thick envelope of hydrogen, helium, and other volatiles, having, as a result, a total radius between 1.7 and 3.9 Earth radii (). The term is used in a three-tier, metallicity-based classification regime for short-period exoplanets, which also includes the rocky, terrestrial-like planets with less than and planets greater than , namely ice giants and gas giants. Properties Theoretical studies of such planets are loosely based on knowledge about Uranus and Neptune. Without a thick atmosphere, they would be classified as an ocean planet instead. An estimated dividing line between a rocky planet and a gaseous pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Super-Earth
A super-Earth is a type of exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth, but substantially below those of the Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, which are 14.5 and 17.1 times Earth's, respectively. The term "super-Earth" refers only to the mass of the planet, and so does not imply anything about the surface conditions or Planetary habitability, habitability. The alternative term "gas dwarfs" may be more accurate for those at the higher end of the mass scale, although "mini-Neptunes" is a more common term. Definition In general, super-Earths are defined by their masses. The term does not imply temperatures, compositions, orbital properties, habitability, or environments. While sources generally agree on an upper bound of 10 Earth masses (~69% of the mass of Uranus, which is the Solar System's giant planet with the least mass), the lower bound varies from 1 or 1.9 to 5, with various other definitions appearing in the popular media. The term "super-Earth" is also used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
