Real exoplanet setting

HD 209458 b

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HD 209458 b
Planetary landscapesArtist’s imagined scene

An artistic scene associated with HD 209458 b. The scientific record below anchors the setting; it does not establish the depicted environment.

01 / Interpretation

The imagined scene

The host system is real. All alien organisms, robots, societies and social histories are fictional. Moons, rings, terrain and weather are artistic assumptions unless specifically supported by a cited source. These images are not calibrated simulations of the sky.

02 / Evidence

The scientific anchor

This illustration is associated with HD 209458 b, a catalogued exoplanet orbiting HD 209458. The available catalog measurements below describe the real system; they do not establish the illustrated scenery.

Available measurements

Host: HD 209458 · 1 catalog star(s) · Giant-size planet

NASA composite catalog values may combine different papers. Errors and upper/lower limits are retained. “Calculated Value” means derived or estimated. Msini is a minimum mass. Missing values are unknown. A multiple-star system’s single stellar row does not describe every component. Equilibrium temperature is not a measured surface temperature.

QuantityValue & uncertaintyUnitPaper / source
Planet radius15.581 [+0.22418 / -0.22418]Earth radiiStassun et al. 2017
Planet mass232.02 [+12.713 / -12.713]Earth massesStassun et al. 2017
Bulk density0.362 [+0.006 / -0.006]g/cm³Southworth 2010
Orbital period3.5247 [+3.8e-07 / -3.8e-07]daysStassun et al. 2017
Orbital semimajor axis0.04707 [+0.00045 / -0.00047]AUBonomo et al. 2017
Orbital eccentricity0Stassun et al. 2017
Orbital inclination86.71 [+0.05 / -0.05]degreesStassun et al. 2017
Irradiation587.1Earth fluxExoFOP
Equilibrium temperature1,459 [+12 / -12]K; not surface temperatureSouthworth 2010
Catalog stellar effective temperature6,091 [+10 / -10]KStassun et al. 2017
Catalog stellar radius1.19 [+0.02 / -0.02]Solar radiiStassun et al. 2017
Catalog stellar mass1.23 [+0.09 / -0.09]Solar massesStassun et al. 2017
Catalog stellar luminosity0.23086 [+0.015 / -0.0123]log10 Solar luminosityBarstow et al. 2017
Catalog stellar age3.1 [+0.8 / -0.7]GyrKokori et al. 2023
Catalog stellar metallicity0.01dexStassun et al. 2017
System distance48.302 [+0.124 / -0.1234]pcTICv8

What about life?

Likely a deep gaseous envelope, without a solid exterior surface. Atmospheric or moon life is speculative; this is not proof that all life is impossible. No confirmed life; no planet-specific biosignature literature review in this release.

NASA system dossier ↗

Papers and references