Extrasolar Planet GJ 436 b

The exoplanet known as GJ 436 b is a well-studied hot Neptune. Its mass is 23.4 times that of Earth, and its radius is 4 times that of Earth, parameters that are typical of this class of planet.

The star GJ 436 is about 33.3 light years from Earth, its mass about half of that of our Sun ($0.452\pm0.012 \ M_{\odot}$), and its size also about half that ofour Sun ($0.464\pm0.011R_{\odot}$). The orbital period of the planet is 2.64 Earth days, corresponding to a maximum star-planet distance (semimajor axis) of less than 3% of the Earth-Sun distance (0.029 astronomical units (AU)).

Advanced Readers: See Knutson et al. (2011), and references therein, for more details on GJ 436 b.

Learn more about exoplanets with the book Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems.

Follow on Twitter

Blog Book Tutorial Exoplanets FAQ Exoplanets Websites

File under: GJ 436 b; A well-studied hot-Neptune type extrasolar planet.