14 Herculis c or 14 Her c is an

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

approximately 58.4

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 101 ...

s away in the constellation of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted th ...

. The planet was found orbiting the

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

14 Herculis 14 Herculis or 14 Her is the Flamsteed designation of a K-type main-sequence star approximately 58.5 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. Because of its apparent magnitude, the star cannot be seen with the naked eye. As ...

, with a mass that would make the planet a

gas giant A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...

roughly the same size as

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

but much more massive. It was discovered on November 17, 2005 and published on November 2, 2006, although its existence was not confirmed until 2021. According to a 2007 analysis, the existence of a second planet in the 14 Herculis system was "clearly" supported by the evidence, but the planet's parameters were not precisely known. It may be in a 4:1

resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillat ...

with the inner planet 14 Herculis b. The inclination and true mass of 14 Herculis c were measured in 2021, using data from ''

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthe ...

'', and refined by further

astrometric Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way. Histor ...

studies in 2022 and 2023. The inclination is 82°, corresponding to a true mass of . Direct imaging of 14 Herculis c with the

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble ...

is planned.

References

External links

* * Hercules (constellation) Giant planets Exoplanets discovered in 2005 Exoplanets detected by radial velocity Exoplanets detected by astrometry {{extrasolar-planet-stub