Iota Horologii b, also known as HR 810 b, is an extrasolar planet located 56.5 light-years away in the constellation Horologium (The Pendulum Clock). It was the first planet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of its parent star. Iota Horologii b, on the other hand, is thought to have insolation similar to Venus due to its eccentric and closer orbit than the Earth. Iota Horologii b has a minimum mass of 1.94 Jupiter masses; however, preliminary astrometric measurements indicate that the object may be around 24 Jupiter masses and thus a brown dwarf.
Earth astronomers discovered Iota Horologii b in 1998. Every 320.1 days, it completes an elongated orbit of its parent star with an average distance of 0.925 AU (Astronomical Units) and an eccentricity of 0.16. It has a mass that is 2.26 times that of Jupiter. HR 810b is another name for it. It is either a gas giant or a low-mass brown dwarf orbiting the star Iota Horologii in the constellation Horologium, which is 56.51 light-years away from Earth.
Iota Horologii is about 56.2 light-years away from Sol. It is located southwest of R Horologii in the west-central part of Constellation Horologium, the Pendulum Clock. It is a yellow-orange main sequence dwarf star with the spectral and luminosity type G0 Vp, but it has previously been classified as G3 and a subgiant (IV).
Physical characteristics
Iota Horologii b was the first planet discovered to be in the habitable zone of its parent star. Iota Horologii b, on the other hand, is thought to have insolation similar to Venus due to its eccentric and closer orbit than the Earth.
Despite the fact that no natural satellites have been discovered around an extrasolar planet, the possibility of a moon orbiting Iota Horologii b appears to be plausible. The maximum stable prograde (or moon stability) around Iota Horologii b is calculated to be 4,120,000 kilometers (or 0.027 astronomical units) from the planetary center. The maximum mass of a moon in a stable orbit around the planet would be about ten times that of Earth. With a theoretical radius of 1.026 Jupiter radii. The planet’s calculated albedo is 0.79, and its gravitational influence (Hill sphere) is estimated to be 11,470,000 km (0.076 AU).
Detection and discovery
Iota Horologii b was discovered as a result of a long-term survey of forty Solar analog stars that began in November 1992. The planet is the first extrasolar planet discovered using a European Southern Observatory instrument, with the data discovered at Chile’s La Silla Observatory.
According to the Keplerian signal, the planet has an orbital period of 320.1 days, indicating that it is orbiting a planet with a minimum mass of 2.26 Jupiter masses. Iota Horologii b was announced as the first planet discovered by a team of planet hunters led by Martin Kürster in the summer of 1999.
According to Iota Horologii’s measurements, the planet orbits the star every 320 days. Based on this period, the known mass of the central star (1.25 solar masses), and the amplitude of the velocity changes, the planet has a mass at least 2.26 times that of Jupiter.
It travels in an elongated orbit around the host star. This orbit would extend from just outside the orbit of Venus (at 117 million km or 0.78 astronomical units [AU] from the Sun) to just outside the orbit of the Earth if it were located in the Solar System (at 162 million km or 1.08 AU). Because the planet is at least 720 times more massive than Earth, Iota Horologii b is expected to be more similar to Jupiter.
According to a recent astrometric analysis of Iota Horologii b, planet b may have up to 24 times the mass of Jupiter and an inclination of 5.5 degrees from Earth’s line of sight. According to these calculations, Iota Horologii b could be an extremely dim brown dwarf and Iota Horologii’s substellar companion. These measurements, however, were later found to be only useful for upper limits of inclination.
