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CONFIRMED EXOPLANET · Gas giant

AB Pic b

AB Pic b orbits the star AB Pic, 163.2 light-years from Earth.

DISCOVERED 2005 · Imaging

Get to know this world ↓
AB Pic b
ORBITAL VISUALISATION
Gas giantPlanet type

Size-based classification; composition may be uncertain.

12.3 × Earth’s radiusSize

Around 1,130% wider than Earth.

163.2 light-yearsDistance

Its light travels for roughly 163 years to reach us.

2005Discovered

Imaging

Overview

AB Pic b is one of the confirmed worlds in the NASA Exoplanet Archive. Recorded as discovered in 2005. The credited discovery facility is Paranal Observatory. Its Imaging evidence gives us a way to study a planet that is usually too faint to see directly.

Its recorded radius is 12.3 times Earth's radius. Size is useful for comparison, but it cannot establish surface conditions by itself.

The planet

The archive lists a mass or minimum-mass value of 4,290.5 Earth masses (Mass). Radius: 12.3 Earth radii.

Mass and radius constrain possible interiors; multiple compositions can fit a given set of measurements.

Orbit & year

The orbital period is not determined in this record. Its recorded semi-major axis is 260 AU. One AU is roughly the Earth–Sun distance.

Host star

AB Pic · K2 V.

Effective temperature: 5,285 K.

Mass: 0.9 times the Sun’s mass.

Planetary system

1 confirmed planets are stored for this star.

AB Pic b · Orbit not determined

Discovery

Reported discovery year: 2005. Method: Imaging. Facility: Paranal Observatory.

First stored in this atlas: 04/10/2026. This is an ingestion date, not a confirmation date.

How these methods work ↗

Potential habitability

The data here does not establish habitability, liquid water, or life. An appropriate atmosphere and many other conditions would be needed.

The listed equilibrium temperature is 16 K. This is an estimated energy-balance temperature, not a measured surface temperature.

Understand the habitable zone ↗

What do we actually know?

Observed

The underlying light, motion or timing signal. Usually not a photograph of the planet.

Measured

Parameters derived from observations, with instrument and model uncertainty.

Calculated

Our light-year conversion and browsing class are calculated from archive values.

Estimated

Equilibrium temperature is an energy-balance estimate, not surface weather.

Inferred

Possible composition depends on models and may not be unique.

Unknown

Surface conditions and the presence of life are not established here.

Measured signals are interpreted through models. The archive’s composite table combines published values and may include calculated estimates. Values do not necessarily form one self-consistent solution.

Radius and mass can be estimated or inferred, orbital period comes from recurring observations, and size classification is calculated by this site. Atmospheric and surface conditions remain unknown unless established by specific observations.

Consult the archive for individual parameter references and uncertainty intervals before scientific use.

Scientific data

Radius12.3 Earth radii
Mass / minimum mass4,290.5 Earth masses (Mass)
Semi-major axis260 AU
Equilibrium temperature15.8 K · estimated, not surface temperature
Host star temperature5,285 K
Host star mass0.9 Solar masses
Host star radius0.99939 Solar radii
Distance50.0475 parsecs
Discovery year2,005
Discovery methodImaging
Discovery facilityParanal Observatory
Discovery publication2005-08
Stellar spectral typeK2 V

Uncertainties and parameter provenance

Archive uncertainty ranges and published references, where available. A missing uncertainty does not imply an exact value.

ParameterUncertainty / source
RadiusUpper uncertainty unavailable / Lower uncertainty unavailableCalculated Value
Mass / minimum mass+158.9 / -158.9 Chauvin et al. 2005
Equilibrium temperatureUpper uncertainty unavailable / Lower uncertainty unavailableCalculated Value

Sources

NASA Exoplanet Archive · Planetary Systems Composite Parameters (PSCompPars).

Open the scientific archive record ↗

Last changed in this atlas: 04/10/2026, 11:39:41. Read our methodology.

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