PSR B1257+12 B

PSR B1257+12 B is an extrasolar planet in the constellation of Virgo. It is around 980 light years away from Earth. It was the first planet ever discovered outside of the Solar System.^[1] It is over four times bigger than Earth. It orbits the pulsar PSR B1257+12, going around it approximately every 66 days at a distance of 0.36 AU.^[3]

PSR B1257+12 B
Poltergeist

Size comparison of PSR B1257+12 B with Earth and Neptune.
Discovery
Discovered by	Aleksander Wolszczan
Discovery site	Poland
Discovery date	22 January 1992
Detection method	Pulsar Timing
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	0.36 AU (54,000,000 km)[1]
Eccentricity	0.0186 ± 0.0002[1]
Orbital period	66.5419 ± 0.0001[1] d
Inclination	53 ± 4[1][note 1]
Time of periastron	2,449,768.1 ± 0.1[1]
Argument of periastron	250.4 ± 0.6[1]
Star	PSR B1257+12
Physical characteristics
Mass	4.3 ± 0.2[1] M🜨
Temperature	193 K (−80 °C; −112 °F)[2]
The method used to determine the inclination includes a degeneracy because of the impossibility of determining whether the orbital motion is clockwise or anticlockwise. The alternate value of the inclination is 127 ± 4°.

References

1. Konacki, M.; Wolszczan, A. (2003). "Masses and Orbital Inclinations of Planets in the PSR B1257+12 System". The Astrophysical Journal. 591 (2): L147–L150. arXiv:astro-ph/0305536. Bibcode:2003ApJ...591L.147K. doi:10.1086/377093. S2CID 18649212. Archived from the original on 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
2. Extrasolar Visions - PSR 1257+12 B Archived December 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
3. Wolszczan, A., Frail, D. (1992). "A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257 + 12". Nature 355 (6356): 145–147. Bibcode:1992Natur.355..145W. doi:10.1038/355145a0.

Other websites

Media related to PSR B1257+12 B at Wikimedia Commons

• extrasolarplanet.net data Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Pulsar Planets Archived 2005-12-30 at the Wayback Machine