Jul 292019
 

Recently discovered and described, the exoplanet LTT 1445Ab: about a third larger in diameter than Earth, perhaps 8 times as massive, orbits a red dwarf some 6.9 parsecs (22.5 light years) away. That’s not so unusual, but the red dwarf is part of a trinary system. So a hypothetical observer could see *three* stars in the sky.

It orbits close enough to the primary so that the surface is baking hot and the “year” is only 5.36 days long. Doubtless this means that the planet is tidally locked, so the*other* side of the world should be pretty cold and dark except for when the other stars are in the sky.

Three Red Suns in the Sky: A Transiting, Terrestrial Planet in a Triple M Dwarf System at 6.9 Parsecs

If I did my math right, the mass & radius give an approximate surface gravity of about 3.9 G’s. Not a place to party. In fact very likely a wholly unpleasant place.

 Posted by at 4:24 pm