Gliese 667 Cc

Coordinates: 17h 18m 57.16483s, −34° 59′ 23.1416″

Gliese 667 Cc (also known as GJ 667 Cc, HR 6426 Cc, or HD

Gliese 667 Cc
156384 Cc)[3] is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of
the red dwarf star Gliese 667 C, which is a member of the Gliese
667 triple star system, approximately 23.62 light-years (7.24
parsecs; 223.5 trillion kilometres) away in the constellation of
Scorpius. The exoplanet was found by using the radial velocity
method, from radial-velocity measurements via observation of
Doppler shifts in the spectrum of the planet's parent star.

Physical characteristics An artist's impression of Gliese 667

Cc

Mass, radius and temperature Discovery

Discovery date 2011
Gliese 667 Cc is a super-Earth, an exoplanet with a mass and (mentioned),
radius greater than that of Earth, but smaller than that of the giant 2012
planets Uranus and Neptune. It is heavier than Earth with a (announced)
minimum mass of about 3.7 Earth masses.[2] The equilibrium
Detection Radial velocity
temperature of Gliese 667 Cc is estimated to be 277.4 K (4.3 °C;
method (European
39.6 °F).[1] It is expected to have a radius of around 1.5 R🜨,
Southern
dependent upon its composition.
Observatory)
Orbital characteristics
Host star
Semi-major axis 0.1251 (± 0.03)
The planet orbits a red dwarf (M-type) star named Gliese 667 C, AU
orbited by a total of two planets. The star is part of a trinary star Eccentricity 0.133 (± 0.098)
system, with Gliese 667 A and B both being more massive than the Orbital period 28.155 (± 0.017)
smaller companion. Gliese 667 C has a mass of 0.31 M☉ and a (sidereal) d
radius of 0.42 R☉ . It has a temperature of 3,700 K, but its age is
Inclination >30
poorly constrained, estimates place it greater than two billion years
old. In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old[4] and has a Semi-amplitude 1.5
surface temperature of 5,778 K.[5] This star is radiating only 1.4% Star Gliese 667C
of the Sun's luminosity from its outer atmosphere. It is known to
Physical characteristics
have a system of two planets: claims have been made for up to
Mean radius +0.5
seven, but these may be in error due to failure to account for 1.54 −0.4[1] R🜨
correlated noise in the radial velocity data. Since red dwarfs emit
Mass 3.709 (±
little ultraviolet light, the planets likely receive minimal amounts of
ultraviolet radiation. 0.682)[2] MEarth
Temperature 277.4 K (4.3 °C;
Gliese 667 Cc is the second confirmed planet out from Gliese 667 39.6 °F)
C, orbiting towards the inner edge of the habitable zone.[6] From
its surface, the star would have an angular diameter of 1.24
degrees and would appear to be 2.3 times[note 1] the visual diameter of the Sun as it appears from the
surface of the Earth. Gliese 667 C would have a visual area 5.4 times greater than that of the Sun but would
still only occupy 0.003 percent of Gliese 667 Cc's sky sphere or 0.006 percent of the visible sky when
directly overhead.

The apparent magnitude of the star is 10.25, giving it an absolute magnitude of about 11.03. It is too dim to
be seen from Earth with the naked eye, and even smaller telescopes cannot resolve it against the brighter
light from Gliese 667 A and B.

Orbit

The orbit of Gliese 667Cc has a semi-major axis of 0.1251 astronomical units, making its year 28.155
Earth-days long. Based on its host star's bolometric luminosity, GJ 667 Cc would receive 90% of the light
Earth does; however, a good part of that electromagnetic radiation would be in the invisible infrared part of
the spectrum.

Habitability
Based on black body temperature calculation, GJ 667 Cc should absorb a similar, but slightly higher,
amount of overall electromagnetic radiation than Earth, making it a little warmer (277.4 K [4.3 °C;
39.6 °F]) and consequently placing it slightly closer to the "hot" inner edge of the habitable zone than Earth
(254.3 K [−18.8 °C; −1.9 °F]).[7] According to PHL, Gliese 667 Cc is (as of July 2018) the fourth-most
Earth-like exoplanet located in the conservative habitable zone of its parent star.[8]

Its host star is a red dwarf, with about a third as much mass as the Sun. As a result, stars like Gliese 667 C
have the ability to live up to 100–150 billion years, 10–15 times longer than the Sun's lifespan.[9]

The planet is likely tidally locked, with one side of its hemisphere permanently facing towards the star, and
the opposite side being dark and cold. However, between these two intense areas, there could be a sliver of
habitability—called the terminator line, where the temperatures may be suitable (about 273 K [0 °C; 32 °F])
for liquid water to exist. Additionally, a much larger portion of the planet may be habitable if it supports a
thick enough atmosphere to transfer heat to the side facing away from the star.

However, in a 2013 paper, it was revealed that Gliese 667 Cc is subject to tidal heating 300 times that of
Earth. This in part is due to its small eccentric orbit around the host star. Because of this, the chances of
habitability may be lower than originally estimated.[10][11]

History

Discovery

Gliese 667 Cc was first announced in a pre-print made public on 21 November 2011 by the European
Southern Observatory's High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) group using the radial
velocity method (Doppler method).[12] The announcement of a refereed journal report came on 2 February
2012 by researchers at the University of Göttingen and the Carnegie Institution for Science and backing up
the ESO HARPS group discovery.[13]

In fiction
Gliese 667 Cc features in the story "The Audience" by Sean McMullen in the June 2015 issue of Analog
Science Fiction and Fact. In the Alien vs. Predator franchise, Gliese 667 Cc was the first planet to be
terraformed, being done so by the Weyland Corporation in 2039. It is also mentioned in the 2015 novel Not
Alone by Craig A. Falconer. This planet is also featured in Allen Steele's 2016 novel Arkwright. Gliese 667
Cc is also the setting of the 2020 video game In Other Waters.

See also
KELT-4Ab, another exoplanet in a triple star system
LTT 1445 is a triple M-dwarf system with one planet orbiting LTT 1445A
List of potentially habitable exoplanets

References
1. "The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog - Planetary Habitability Laboratory @ UPR Arecibo" (htt
ps://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog). phl.upr.edu.
2. "GJ 667 C c" (http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayOverview/nph-Display
Overview?objname=GJ+667+C+c). NASA Exoplanet Archive. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
3. "HD 156384 Cc" (http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=HD+156384+Cc).
SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2015-10-31.
4. Fraser Cain (16 September 2008). "How Old is the Sun?" (http://www.universetoday.com/18
237/how-old-is-the-sun/). Universe Today. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
5. Fraser Cain (15 September 2008). "Temperature of the Sun" (http://www.universetoday.com/
18092/temperature-of-the-sun/). Universe Today. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
6. "A Nearby Star with Three Potentially Habitable Worlds" (https://web.archive.org/web/20190
905024436/http://phl.upr.edu/press-releases/anearbystarwiththreepotentiallyhabitableworld
s). phl.upr.edu. Archived from the original (https://phl.upr.edu/press-releases/anearbystarwith
threepotentiallyhabitableworlds) on 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
7. Anglada-Escudé, Guillem; et al. (2013-06-07). "A dynamically-packed planetary system
around GJ 667C with three super-Earths in its habitable zone" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20130630214924/http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1328/eso1
328a.pdf) (PDF). Astronomy & Astrophysics. 556: A126. arXiv:1306.6074 (https://arxiv.org/ab
s/1306.6074). Bibcode:2013A&A...556A.126A (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013A&
A...556A.126A). doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201321331 (https://doi.org/10.1051%2F0004-636
1%2F201321331). S2CID 14559800 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14559800).
Archived from the original (http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1
328/eso1328a.pdf) (PDF) on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
8. "Habitable Exoplanets Catalog" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160109001847/http://phl.upr.
edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog). 9 January 2016. Archived from the original (http
s://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog) on 9 January 2016.
9. Adams, Fred C.; Laughlin, Gregory; Graves, Genevieve J. M. "Red Dwarfs and the End of
the Main Sequence". Gravitational Collapse: From Massive Stars to Planets. Revista
Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. pp. 46–49. Bibcode:2004RMxAC..22...46A (https://ui.
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004RMxAC..22...46A).
10. Makarov, Valeri V.; Berghea, Ciprian (2013). "Dynamical Evolution and Spin-Orbit
Resonances of Potentially Habitable Exoplanets. The Case of Gj 667C". The Astrophysical
Journal. 780 (2): 124. arXiv:1311.4831 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.4831). doi:10.1088/0004-
637X/780/2/124 (https://doi.org/10.1088%2F0004-637X%2F780%2F2%2F124).
S2CID 118700510 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:118700510).
11. http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=32470 See the GJ 667 Cc section.
12. European Southern Observatory. Press information: The HARPS search for southern extra-
solar planets. 11.24.2011. [1] (http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/es
o1214/eso1214a.pdf)
13. University of Göttingen. Presseinformation: Wissenschaftler entdecken möglicherweise
bewohnbare Super-Erde - Göttinger Astrophysiker untersucht Planeten in 22 Lichtjahren
Entfernung. Nr. 17/2012 - 02.02.2012. Announcement on university homepage, retrieved
2012-02-02 (http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/3240.html?cid=4110)

Notes
1. . where is the apparent diameter of the star from the surface of the planet
in orbit (GJ667Cc in this case), is the apparent diameter of the Sun (sol) from the surface
of Earth, is the effective temperature of the Sun (sol), the effective temperature of
the star, is the luminosity of the star as a fraction of the Sun's luminosity and is the
distance of the planet from the star in AU.

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