51 Pegasi
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51 Pegasi |
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Deep Sky Object Chart | Epsilon Pegasi (Enif) | Upsilon Andromedae | 32 Pegasi | 51 Pegasi | M15 | M31 | M33 | NGC 752 | NGC 891 | NGC 7331 | NGC 7662 | NGC 7814 | M74 51 Pegasi is another nearby star much like our sun recently found to be attended by a giant planet - in this case, the planet defied expectations by orbiting much closer to its star than Mercury does ours, making for a ferociously hot environment. |
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. The planet itself is estimated to weigh about half as much as Jupiter - so it would be about twice as heavy as Saturn in our system, and bested only by Jupiter itself. We don't know what the actual composition of 51 Peg's close companion is: gaseous like Jupiter, or solid like Earth (the best bet is gaseous). It hardly matters when daytime temperatures hover around 1,000 degrees! While 51 Pegasi is not suitable for life, it is very easy to find - perhaps the easiest of all such systems. Look along the west side of the great square, between Markab and Scheat, and you'll be able to spot 51 Pegasi easily in binoculars or even with your eyes if the sky is fairly dark.
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