Beta Pictoris c

{{Short description|Super Jupiter exoplanet orbiting Beta Pictoris}}

{{Infobox planet

| name = Beta Pictoris c

| image =

| caption =

| discoverer = Lagrange et al.

| discovery_site = La Silla Observatory

| discovered = 19 August 2019

| discovery_method = Radial velocity method

| orbit_ref =

| apsis = astron

| semimajor = {{val|2.680|0.016|0.015|ul=AU}}

| eccentricity = {{val|0.314|0.024|0.034}}

| period = {{val|3.266|0.015|0.012|ul=yr}}

| inclination = {{val|88.947|0.083|0.091|u=deg}}

| asc_node = {{val|31.081|0.060|0.048|u=deg}}

| time_periastron =

| arg_peri = {{val|243.890|2.201|3.326|u=deg}}

| semi-amplitude = {{val|137.999|16.442|15.079|ul=m/s}}

| star = Beta Pictoris

| mean_radius = {{val|1.2|0.1|ul=Jupiter radius}}

| mass = {{val|10.139|1.175|1.031|ul=Jupiter mass}}

| rotation =

| single_temperature = {{val|1250|50|ul=K}}

| spectral_type =

}}

Beta Pictoris c (abbreviated as β Pic c) is the second exoplanet discovered orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris, located approximately 63 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Pictor. Its mass is around nine times that of Jupiter, and it orbits at around 2.7 astronomical units (AU) from Beta Pictoris, about 3.5 times closer to its parent star than Beta Pictoris b. It has an orbital period of {{convert|1200|days|years|abbr=off}}. The orbit of Beta Pictoris c is moderately eccentric, with an eccentricity of 0.24.

This exoplanet is notable for having been detected by three different methods: initially radial velocity, then direct imaging and astrometry.{{cite journal | arxiv=2011.06215| doi=10.3847/1538-3881/abdc2e| title=Precise Dynamical Masses and Orbital Fits for β Pic b and β Pic C| year=2021| last1=Brandt| first1=G. Mirek| last2=Brandt| first2=Timothy D.| last3=Dupuy| first3=Trent J.| last4=Li| first4=Yiting| last5=Michalik| first5=Daniel| journal=The Astronomical Journal| volume=161| issue=4| page=179| bibcode=2021AJ....161..179B| s2cid=226306610| doi-access=free}}

Physical characteristics

=Mass and radius=

Beta Pictoris c is a super-Jupiter, an exoplanet that has a radius and mass greater than that of the planet Jupiter. It has a mass of around 10 Jupiter masses ({{Jupiter mass}}) and a radius of about 1.2 times that of Jupiter.

= Host star =

The planet orbits an A-type main sequence star named Beta Pictoris. The star has a mass of 1.75 solar masses ({{Solar mass}}) and a radius of 1.8 solar radii ({{Solar radius}}). It has a surface temperature of 8056 K and is only 12 million years old. It is slightly metal-rich, with a metallicity (Fe/H) of 0.06, or 112% of that found in the Sun. Its luminosity ({{solar luminosity|link=y}}) is 8.7 times that of the Sun.

=Orbit=

Beta Pictoris c orbits at around {{convert|2.7|au|e6km|abbr=off}} from Beta Pictoris, about 3.5 times closer than Beta Pictoris b. It has an orbital period of {{convert|1200|days|years|abbr=off}}. The planet spends most or all of its orbit in the habitable zone.{{Cite web |title=What is the habitable zone around my star? |url=https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/79646/what-is-the-habitable-zone-around-my-star |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=Worldbuilding Stack Exchange |language=en}}

Discovery

Beta Pictoris c was detected indirectly, through 10 years of observation of radial velocity data from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectroscope on the European Southern Observatory's ESO 3.6 m Telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile by a worldwide team led by Anne-Marie Lagrange, as the discovery of the planet was publicly announced in August 2019. This discovery was described as being able to help scientists further understand the formation of planetary systems and their evolution in the early stages. In October 2020, new images of the exoplanet were revealed.{{cite web |last1=Starr |first1=Michelle |title=Scientists Reveal First Direct Image of an Exoplanet Only 63 Light-Years Away |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-the-first-direct-image-of-an-exoplanet-detected-via-a-wobbly-star |website=sciencealert.com |date=2 October 2020 |accessdate=2 October 2020}}

The European Southern Observatory confirmed the presence of Beta Pictoris c, on 6 October 2020, through the use of optical interferometry. With a semi-major axis of approximatively 2.7 astronomical units, Beta Pictoris c is, as of 2020, the closest extrasolar planet to its star ever photographed.{{cite journal |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202038823 |last1=Lagrange |first1=Anne-Marie |editor1-last=Forveille |editor1-first=Thierry |title=Unveiling the β Pictoris system, coupling high contrast imaging, interferometric, and radial velocity data |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=October 2020 |volume=642 |pages=A18 |url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2020/10/aa39039-20/aa39039-20.html |access-date=7 October 2020 |publisher=EDP Sciences |bibcode=2020A&A...642A..18L |language=en |issn=0004-6361|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/447629 |hdl-access=free }}

As of 2022, the orbital parameters and mass of Beta Pictoris c have been measured using a combination of data from radial velocity, astrometry, and imaging, showing that it is about 10.1 times the mass of Jupiter, on an eccentric orbit (eccentricity 0.31) with a semi-major axis of about 2.7 AU and an orbital period of about 3.3 years.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal |last1=Lagrange |first1=A.-M. |last2=Meunier |first2=Pascal Rubini |last3=Keppler |first3=Miriam |last4=Galland |first4=Franck |author5=et al. |title=Evidence for an additional planet in the β Pictoris system |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0857-1 |journal=Nature Astronomy |date=19 August 2019 |volume=3 |issue=12 |pages=1135–1142 |accessdate=20 August 2019 |doi=10.1038/s41550-019-0857-1|bibcode=2019NatAs...3.1135L |s2cid=202126059 |url-access=subscription }}

{{cite journal |last1=Nowak |first1=M. |author2=et al. |title=Direct confirmation of the radial-velocity planet β Pictoris c |url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2020/10/aa39039-20/aa39039-20.html |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |date=6 October 2020 |volume=642 |pages=L2 |accessdate=26 August 2020 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202039039|doi-access=free |arxiv=2010.04442|bibcode=2020A&A...642L...2N }}

{{cite news |title=A second planet in the Beta Pictoris system |url=https://www.nanowerk.com/news2/space/newsid=53422.php |accessdate=20 August 2019 |work=Nanowerk |date=19 August 2019}}

{{cite news|title=Beta Pic's New Planet, Jupiter's Fuzzy Core & An Ancient Star|url=https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/60-second-astronomy-news-beta-pics-new-planet-explaining-jupiters-fuzzy-core-discovery-of-an-ancient-star/|first=Monica|last=Young|date=2019-08-19|newspaper=Sky & Telescope|accessdate=2019-08-19}}

{{cite journal |bibcode=2006AJ....132..161G |title=Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 pc—The Southern Sample |last=Gray |first=R. O. |year=2006 |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=132 |issue=1 |pages=161–170 |doi=10.1086/504637 |arxiv = astro-ph/0603770 |s2cid=250741593 |display-authors=etal}}

{{cite journal |last1=Webb |first1=R. A. |last2=Bessell |first2=M. S. |last3=Song |first3=Inseok |last4=Zuckerman |first4=B. |title=The β Pictoris Moving Group |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters |volume=562 |pages=L87–L90 |date=30 October 2001 |issue=1 |doi=10.1086/337968|bibcode=2001ApJ...562L..87Z |s2cid=120493760 |doi-access=free }}

{{cite journal|arxiv=2109.10671|year=2021|title=The mass of β Pictoris c from β Pictoris b orbital motion|doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202141889|last1=Lacour|first1=S.|last2=Wang|first2=J. J.|last3=Rodet|first3=L.|last4=Nowak|first4=M.|last5=Shangguan|first5=J.|last6=Beust|first6=H.|last7=Lagrange|first7=A.-M.|last8=Abuter|first8=R.|last9=Amorim|first9=A.|last10=Asensio-Torres|first10=R.|last11=Benisty|first11=M.|last12=Berger|first12=J.-P.|last13=Blunt|first13=S.|last14=Boccaletti|first14=A.|last15=Bohn|first15=A.|last16=Bolzer|first16=M.-L.|last17=Bonnefoy|first17=M.|last18=Bonnet|first18=H.|last19=Bourdarot|first19=G.|last20=Brandner|first20=W.|last21=Cantalloube|first21=F.|last22=Caselli|first22=P.|last23=Charnay|first23=B.|last24=Chauvin|first24=G.|last25=Choquet|first25=E.|last26=Christiaens|first26=V.|last27=Clénet|first27=Y.|last28=Coudé Du Foresto|first28=V.|last29=Cridland|first29=A.|last30=Dembet|first30=R.|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics|volume=654|pages=L2|bibcode=2021A&A...654L...2L|s2cid=237592885|display-authors=1}}

{{cite journal |last1=Feng |first1=Fabo |last2=Butler |first2=R. Paul |display-authors=etal |date=August 2022 |title=3D Selection of 167 Substellar Companions to Nearby Stars |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |volume=262 |issue=21 |page=21 |doi=10.3847/1538-4365/ac7e57 |arxiv=2208.12720 |bibcode=2022ApJS..262...21F|s2cid=251864022 |doi-access=free }}

}}

Category:Exoplanets detected by radial velocity

Category:Exoplanets detected by direct imaging

Category:Exoplanets detected by astrometry

Category:Exoplanets discovered in 2019

Category:Giant planets

Category:Pictor