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Gliese 436b

What is Gliese 436b?

Gliese 436 b is a Neptune-sized extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 436. It was one of the littlest known transiting planets in size and radius until the much smaller Kepler discoveries started coming in 2010.Gliese 436 b was identified in August 2004 by R. Paul Butler and Geoffrey Marcy of the Carnegie Institute of Washington and University of California, Berkeley, using the radial velocity method.

Interesting Facts

Physical Characteristics

  • Gliese 436b has 23 times the mass of Earth, a little bit more than Neptune (17 Earths), and it's diameter is about the same as Neptune's.
  • The planet is about 4000 km bigger in diameter than Uranus and 5000 km larger than Neptune and a bit more colossal. Gliese 436b (also known as GJ 436b) orbits it's star at a stretch of 4,000,000 km or 15 times closer than Mercury’s moderate distance from the sun.

The planet’s surface temperature is estimated from measurements taken as it passes behind the star to be 712 K (439 °C). This temperature is certainly higher than would be expected if the planet were only heated by emission from it's star (which had been, in a Reuters article from a month before this measurement, estimated at 520 K). Whatever energy that tidal effects deliver to the planet does not noticeably affect it's temperature. It's discoverers allowed for a temperature increment due to a greenhouse effect.

QUIZ!

- What is the surface temperature of Gliese 436b?

- Approximately how long does it take for Gliese 436b to orbit around it's star?

- What planet is Gliese 436b be very similar to?

- What year was Gliese 436b discovered in?

Journey to Gliese 436b

Physical makeup of Gliese 436b

With a size and density similar to Neptune's, Gliese 436b likely has a similar interior structure: a rock-and-iron core enclosed by a broad mantle of water compressed to a solid form by high pressure despite the planet's internal heat. This "ice" mantle may accommodate more than half of the planet's mass. And like Uranus and Neptune, the planet most likely has an outer atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. But it orbits Gliese 436 at only 3% of Earth's distance from the Sun, achieving an orbit in 2.644 days.

By: Lia Chan

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