GJ 3512
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GJ 3512 is a small red dwarf star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major, invisible to the naked eye at an apparent visual magnitude of +15.05. Located 31 light-years from the Sun, it has a high proper motion and a radial velocity indicating it is drifting further away at roughly 8 km/s. The star is notable for hosting a gas giant planet whose mass is only 1/250th that of its host, challenging traditional planetary formation models.
Quick Facts
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Apparent visual magnitude
- +15.05
- Distance
- 31 light-years
- Stellar classification
- dM5.5
- Mass
- 12.5% of the Sun
- Radius
- 16% of the Sun
- Luminosity
- 1.6% of the Sun
- Effective temperature
- 3,081 K
Facts from the source article.
Planetary system
A gas giant planet in an eccentric orbit around GJ 3512 was discovered in 2019 via the radial velocity method. The star's mass is only 250 times that of the planet, a ratio that questions traditional planetary formation theories; the planet may have formed around a higher-mass star and been swapped into this system during an interaction if the star originated in an open cluster. The eccentric orbit could result from the ejection of another exoplanet. A second gas giant planet on a wider, circular orbit is suspected; a 2020 study strengthened the evidence, and most sources now consider it confirmed.
More in Planetary Systems with Two Confirmed Planets
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: GJ 3512 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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