Gliese 581

Gliese 581, extrasolar planetary system containing four planets. One of them, Gliese 581d, was the first planet to be found within the habitable zone of an extrasolar planetary system, the orbital region around a star in which an Earth-like planet could possess liquid water on its surface and possibly support life. Another, Gliese 581e, is the smallest planet seen in orbit around an ordinary main sequence star other than the Sun.

Gliese 581d was discovered in 2007 and has a mass at least 5.6 times that of Earth. Gliese 581d is the third planet discovered around the red dwarf star Gliese 581, which has a mass 0.31 times that of the Sun and is 20.4 light-years from Earth. Gliese 581d orbits its star every 66.64 days at a distance of 32.9 million km (20.5 million miles), which is within the habitable zone. Since it is so close to its star, the tidal forces on Gliese 581d have likely made its rotational period the same as its orbital period. Thus, on one side of the planet it is always day, and on the other side it is always night. However, the planet’s mass is such that, if it has an atmosphere with sufficient amounts of carbon dioxide, the atmosphere would be thick enough to avoid freezing on the night side.

Gliese 581e, discovered in 2009, has a mass 1.94 times that of Earth and is the smallest planet in the Gliese 581 system. It is also the closest to its star, orbiting once every 3.15 days at a distance from Gliese 581 of 4.5 million km (2.8 million miles). Gliese 581e is a rocky planet like Earth, but it probably could not sustain life; it is too close to its star for liquid water to survive on its surface.