Eccentric Jupiter

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Eccentric Jupiter HD 96167 b has a comet-like orbit.

An eccentric Jupiter is a Jovian planet that orbits its star in an eccentric orbit.[1] Eccentric Jupiters may disqualify a planetary system from having Earth-like planets in it because a massive gas giant with an eccentric orbit may remove all Earth mass planets from the habitable zone.

To date, it appears that approximately 7% of all stars (half of the known planetary systems) have an eccentric Jupiter (e > 0.1), making these planets more common than Hot Jupiters.[citation needed]

Out of the more than 200 extrasolar planet discoveries (as of 2006), 15 planets have high eccentricities (e > 0.6).[2]

The typical exoplanet with an orbital period greater than 5 days has a median eccentricity of 0.23.[3]

Possible habitable zone planets near eccentric Jupiters:[2]

Planet SMA ecc MJ Notes
HD 3651 b 0.29 0.61 0.22 Might allow for planets at or beyond 0.6 AU
HD 37605 b 0.26 0.73 2.84 Might allow for planets at or beyond 0.8 AU
HD 45350 b 1.92 0.77 1.79 Restricted stable orbits to the innermost 0.2 AU
HD 80606 b 0.45 0.93 4.0 Only beyond 1.75 AU did test particles remain
HD 20782 b 1.381 0.97 2.620
HD 89744 b 0.93 0.67 8.58 No terrestrial planets in the habitable zone
16 Cygni Bb 1.68 0.68 1.68 No terrestrial planets in the habitable zone

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Raymond, Sean N.; Quinn, Thomas; Lunine, Jonathan I. (March 2004). "Making other earths: dynamical simulations of terrestrial planet formation and water delivery". Icarus 168 (1): 1–17. arXiv:astro-ph/0308159. Bibcode:2004Icar..168....1R. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2003.11.019.  Note: this study treats eccentric Jupiters as giant planets having an orbital eccentricity of 0.1 or greater.
  2. ^ a b Wittenmyer et al.; Endl, Michael; Cochran, William D.; Levison, Harold F. (2007). "Dynamical and Observational Constraints on Additional Planets in Highly Eccentric Planetary Systems". The Astronomical Journal 134 (3): 1276–1284. arXiv:0706.1962. Bibcode:2007AJ....134.1276W. doi:10.1086/520880. 
  3. ^ Kathryn; Fischer; Marcy; et al. (2009). "Old, Rich, and Eccentric: Two Jovian Planets Orbiting Evolved Metal-Rich Stars". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 121 (880): 613–620. arXiv:0904.2786. Bibcode:2009PASP..121..613P. doi:10.1086/599862.