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| Artistic representation of Gliese 163c as a rock-water world covered with a dense cloud layer (left). It looks reddish, instead of white, due to the reflected light from its red dwarf parent star. Actual false-color image of the Gliese 163 star taken by NASA's WISE Mission (center). Map with the location of Gliese 163 in the constellation Dorado (right). CREDIT: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA/IPAC IRSA, IAU, Sky & Telescope. |
A new superterran exoplanet (aka Super-Earth) was found in the stellar habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 163 by the European HARPS team. The planet, Gliese 163c, has a minimum mass of 6.9 Earth masses and takes nearly 26 days to orbit its star. Superterrans are those exoplanets between two and ten Earth masses, which are more likely composed of rock and water. Gliese 163 is a nearby red dwarf star 50 light years away in the Dorado constellation. Another larger planet, Gliese 163b, was also found to orbit the star much closer with a nine days period. An additional third, but unconfirmed planet, might be orbiting the star much farther away.
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