Tell me more ×
Physics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for active researchers, academics and students of physics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite
1

Are there any known exoplanets around naked-eye stars? I know that Fomalhaut has a planet, and Vega has a dust belt that may be a protoplanetary disk or even analogous to our Kuiper belt. What else is out there orbiting naked-eye stars?

share|improve this question

1 Answer

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Yes.

I'm not going to list all the stars here but it's easy to compile such a list.

Wikipedia has a list of exoplanetary host stars. If you sort the table by ascending apparent magnitude and decide how bright "naked-eye stars" need to be, you can take as many as you like from the list by taking all the stars with smaller magnitudes. I think magnitude 6 is roughly the faintest that is visible with the naked eye but it varies with your location and conditions.

For example, the exoplanet hosts with magnitudes less than 4 are Pollux, $\alpha$ Arietis, $\gamma$ Leonis, $\gamma$ Cephei, $\iota$ Draconis, $\epsilon$ Tauri, $\epsilon$ Eridani, $\beta$ Pictoris and 7 Canis Majoris.

share|improve this answer
Perfect! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! The list does seem incomplete, thought as Fomalhaut is missing. – dotancohen Jun 8 '12 at 11:34
@dotancohen: Fomalhaut b has not been confirmed with radial velocity observations. – raxacoricofallapatorius Sep 17 '12 at 15:59
Thanks. I did know that some doubt had been shed on the existence of the planet. – dotancohen Sep 17 '12 at 19:21

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.