Gliese 667Cc

Gliese 667 Cc (including GJ 667 Cc) is an exoplanet that orbits the red dwarf star Gliese 667 C in a triple - star system Gliese 667 in the constellation of Scorpio. The exoplanet with a minimum mass of a few Earth masses and is located in the habitable zone. The system is 6.8 parsecs or 22.1 light-years from Earth and contains Gliese 667 Cc for at least another planet: Gliese 667 Cb

Discovery

Detected was the planet using the radial velocity method. The possible existence of the planet based on the analysis of HARPS data published by Bonfils and colleagues in November 2011. Anglada - Escudé and colleagues were able to confirm the discovery by additional measurements.

Properties

The mass of GJ 667 Cc is unknown. Its minimum mass is about 4.39 Earth masses. GJ 667Cc is thus classified as a super-Earth. Its sun, a dwarf star of the M- class called GJ 667 C, it orbits in 28.2 days. The distance from him until the star is about 42 million kilometers, about a quarter of the distance from the earth to the sun. The exoplanet is therefore in the habitable zone of the star, the zone in on an Earth-like planet water may be present in liquid form, which is assumed as a precondition for the emergence of life as we know it. Whether on GJ 667 Cc is actually present liquid water, however, depends on various other properties of the planets, which are not yet known.