Gliese 674 is a red dwarf in the southern constellation of Ara, one of the nearest stars known to have a planet, found by the wobble it gives its star.
At a glance
| type | red dwarf (class M) |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 14.8 light-years (4.55 pc) |
| its light left it | 14.8 years ago |
| luminosity | 0.0159 × the Sun |
| radius | 0.36 × the Sun |
| surface temperature | 3,400 K |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with.
About Gliese 674
Gliese 674 is a cool, small star of the most common kind in the Galaxy. It shines dimly in visible light and cannot be seen without optical aid, though it lies among the closest few dozen star systems to the Sun.
Its planet was detected with a high-precision spectrograph that measured the star moving slightly towards and away from us as the planet pulled on it. The planet has a mass comparable with Neptune’s and circles very close to the star, completing an orbit in a matter of days, so it is far hotter than any planet of ours of similar mass.
What you see in the piece
From Earth it is invisible to the eye in the piece. Fly to it and the red dwarf appears as a warm orange-red disc.
Questions
Does Gliese 674 have planets?
Yes. A planet with roughly the mass of Neptune has been found in a very tight orbit, detected by the small back-and-forth motion it causes in the star.