GJ 436

GJ 436 (Gliese-Jahreiss 436), is a dim 11th magnitude red dwarf star about 30 light years from Earth in the constellation of Leo. It is orbited by a recently discovered planet.

GJ 436 b

The planet, GJ 436 b was discovered orbiting the star in 2004. It has a similar mass to Neptune, but orbits very close to the star and may not be a small gas giant but a very massive terrestrial planet instead. It is one of the smallest extrasolar planets discovered so far. One orbit around the star takes only about 2 days 15.5 hours. The planet's surface temperature is high, but not as high as other planets in similar orbits because the star is so dim and cool.

External links

• SIMBAD entry
• The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia entry
• Scientists discover first of a new class of extrasolar planets – NASA Press Release (August 13, 2004)