AB Aur b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

AB Aur b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star AB Aur, located approximately 528.8 light-years (162.13 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2022 by Subaru Telescope using the Imaging detection technique (resolved directly via high-contrast coronagraphic or interferometric imaging), this world measures 12.5 Earth radii (1.12 Jupiter radii) and has a measured mass of 2860.456 Earth masses (9 Jupiter masses). Combining its mass and radius yields a mean bulk density of 8.08 g/cm³ (an iron-enriched, high-compression rocky core), a surface gravity of 18.31 g⊕ (179.56 m/s²), and an escape velocity of 169.2 km/s.

The planet follows a highly eccentric trajectory (e = 0.4, swinging from 56.34 AU at periapsis out to 131.46 AU at apoapsis), pointing to past dynamical scattering or secular gravitational perturbations.

❄️ Thermal Regime (Cryogenic Zone): With an equilibrium temperature of 84 K (-189°C / -308°F) and an incident flux of 0.01 S⊕ (~9 W/m²), surface water and volatile species on AB Aur b would remain locked in cryogenic ice phases unless warmed by subsurface tidal or radiogenic heating.

The host star AB Aur is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 9,770 K, a radius of 2.9589 R☉, a mass of 2.4 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 71.57 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 0.003 Gyr. From Earth, AB Aur shines at apparent V-band magnitude 7.076 (accessible to binoculars and small amateur telescopes) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

Discovery Facility: Subaru Telescope · Catalogue Source: NASA Exoplanet Archive (IPAC / Caltech).