HD 62549 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

HD 62549 b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star HD 62549, located approximately 160.9 light-years (49.33 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2022 by Multiple Observatories using the Radial Velocity detection technique (measuring periodic Doppler reflex motion in the host star's spectrum), this world measures 12.6 Earth radii (1.12 Jupiter radii) and has a measured mass of 2707.58 Earth masses (8.52 Jupiter masses). Combining its mass and radius yields a mean bulk density of 7.46 g/cm³ (an iron-enriched, high-compression rocky core), a surface gravity of 17.05 g⊕ (167.2 m/s²), and an escape velocity of 164 km/s.

In its orbital architecture around HD 62549, HD 62549 b completes one full revolution every 14306.885 Earth days (39.17Julian years) at a semi-major axis of 11.842 AU (a wide outer-system orbit beyond Jupiter's 5.20 AU distance in our Solar System). Its mean orbital velocity is approximately 9 km/s (compared to Earth's 29.8 km/s). Its moderate orbital eccentricity of e = 0.15 carries the world between 10.0657 AU at periapsis and 13.6183 AU at apoapsis, driving measurable seasonal insolation cycles.

❄️ Thermal Regime (Cryogenic Zone): With an equilibrium temperature of 92 K (-181°C / -294°F) and an incident flux of 0.01 S⊕ (~16 W/m²), surface water and volatile species on HD 62549 b would remain locked in cryogenic ice phases unless warmed by subsurface tidal or radiogenic heating.

The host star HD 62549 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 5,930 K, a radius of 1.2323 R☉, a mass of 1.08 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 1.685 L☉. From Earth, HD 62549 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 7.72 (accessible to binoculars and small amateur telescopes) in the Southern celestial hemisphere.

Discovery Facility: Multiple Observatories · Catalogue Source: NASA Exoplanet Archive (IPAC / Caltech).